A former "Girls Planet 999" contestant revealed if Mnet had forced them to diet during the show.
On June 7, 2024, former "Girls Planet 999" contestant Tammy Wu sat down with Graze Grace to discuss her experience competing on the Mnet survival show. During her time on the show, Tammy Wu was one of the C-Group (Chinese) trainees who had competed in the hopes of debuting Kep1er.
At one point during the interview, the topic of diet was brought up. The K-pop industry is notorious for keeping their female idols as slim and tiny as possible, imposing many strict diets on them. With this in mind, Grazy Grace asked Tammy if the same was done to the girls on the show.
Tammy revealed that she heard this was done in other survival shows. However, no diet was imposed on the "Girls Planet 999" contestants.
And she is right. Back in the first season of "Produce 101," there was an entire segment where certain contestants were singled out and placed on a meal plan to lose weight. This segment was not replicated in future "Produce" seasons or other Mnet survival shows.
Tammy revealed that she actually gained weight during the show. Due to how stressful survival shows are, some girls would end up eating more. Tammy was one of them, confessing that she was stressed and ate a lot. She ultimately gained four or five kilograms (8.8-11 lbs) while filming the show.
Although they were not asked to die, some staff members did ask some contestants to eat less. However, it was not because they expected the girls to stay stick thin.
Instead, they were asked to eat less since their measurements were taken for their stage costumes. However, as they gained weight, they would have to fix their stage costumes. Though they were asked, they were never forced to lose weight.
Tammy stated, "They would come over and ask us, 'Can you guys please eat a little less so we don't have to fix your costume again?' Since they measured us already. So they would say that but they wouldn't force us to go on diets."
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During her time on "Girls Planet 999," Tammy Wu, a Chinese-American contestant, competed as an independent trainee. She was eliminated in episode eight at rank C-17. She is currently a student at New York University (NYU), where she majors in music.
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Written by Alexa Lopez
