Who Is KATSEYE? The Members, and Why Only Four Were on ‘SNL’
The girl group HYBE and Geffen built on a reality show made its 'SNL' debut as a four-piece. Here's who's in it, why Sophia and Manon are out, and where the Wildworld Tour goes next.
- KATSEYE is a girl group formed by K-pop company HYBE and Geffen Records on the 2023 reality competition The Debut: Dream Academy. It debuted in June 2024.
- Four members made the group’s SNL debut on Saturday: Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Megan Skiendiel and Yoonchae Jeung.
- Manon Bannerman has been on hiatus since February and leader Sophia Laforteza since August, both to focus on their health. Neither has a return date.
Down to four, and on SNL anyway. KATSEYE, the girl group built on a reality show by HYBE and Geffen Records, made its Saturday Night Live debut on Saturday, Sept. 26, on the Season 52 premiere hosted by Knicks star Jalen Brunson.
Only four of its six members were in Studio 8H. Here’s who they are, where the other two are, and why the group is everywhere this week, including Sunday night’s MTV VMAs.
Who are the members of KATSEYE?
Six singers and dancers from four countries, picked from more than 120,000 applicants. Four are performing right now:
| Member | Age | From | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daniela Avanzini | 22 | Atlanta | Active |
| Lara Raj | 20 | Stamford, Conn. | Active |
| Megan Skiendiel | 20 | Honolulu | Active |
| Yoonchae Jeung | 18 | Seoul | Active |
| Sophia Laforteza | 23 | Philippines | Leader, on hiatus since Aug. 7 |
| Manon Bannerman | 24 | Switzerland | On hiatus since Feb. 20 |
Daniela Avanzini competed on So You Think You Can Dance at 11. Lara Raj guest-starred as a child on the Season 5 finale of The Blacklist. Megan Skiendiel modeled and appeared on Disney Channel’s Raven’s Home.
Yoonchae Jeung, the youngest, is the only member born in South Korea. Sophia Laforteza, the daughter of Filipino actress Carla Guevara Laforteza, became leader by finishing first on the show. Manon Bannerman, from Switzerland, was the first Black artist signed to a HYBE label.
Why weren’t Sophia and Manon on ‘SNL’?
Both are on breaks their labels announced as temporary. On Feb. 20, HYBE and Geffen said Manon would take “a temporary hiatus from group activities to focus on her health and wellbeing,” weeks after KATSEYE performed at the Grammys as a Best New Artist nominee.
Manon hasn’t returned. On her birthday, June 26, she wrote that she has “never been healthier, happier, or more grateful.” On Aug. 7, the labels said Sophia would be “temporarily unable to participate in upcoming promotional activities,” and Sophia posted her own note.
Making this decision wasn’t easy, but I’m learning that health has to come first.
Sophia Laforteza, in a post to fans, Aug. 7, 2026
On Aug. 30, the labels confirmed she would miss the tour’s European dates. Neither label has given a return date for either member, and neither has announced an exit. “We stand by Sophia and Manon through and through. We ride for them,” Lara said on TODAY in August.
How was KATSEYE formed?
On camera. HYBE, the South Korean company behind BTS, and Geffen Records ran The Debut: Dream Academy in 2023: 20 finalists trained and competed for six spots, and the lineup was named on Nov. 18, 2023. Netflix’s 2024 series Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE followed them to their debut.
That’s the setup SNL spoofed on Saturday, in a pre-taped “Season 2” of Dream Academy with the four members as the judges. The group’s first single, “Debut,” came out June 28, 2024, followed by the EPs SIS (Soft Is Strong) in 2024, Beautiful Chaos in 2025 and Wild on Aug. 14.
Is it K-pop? “I’d say our music is not K-pop, but it is heavily inspired by it,” Daniela told Allure in June. Yoonchae pointed to the method: “I feel like the most K-pop thing about us is definitely our training system.”
That system is the K-pop model: years of daily vocal and dance lessons before a group ever releases a song.
What are KATSEYE’s biggest songs?
“Gabriela,” which spent 28 weeks on the Hot 100 and peaked at No. 21. It earned a Grammy nomination for best pop duo/group performance, alongside the group’s best new artist nod. Seven songs have made the Hot 100, including “Gnarly,” “Internet Girl,” “Pinky Up” and the two they sang on SNL.
“Animal,” released July 24 as the lead single from Wild, was co-written by Ed Sheeran, who has said “Gnarly” made him want to write for the group; Demi Moore appears in the video. They opened with it on Saturday, then came back for “Hootie Frutti,” below.
Next up is Sunday night’s MTV Video Music Awards, where the group is nominated for best group and song of the summer.
Where is KATSEYE touring?
The Wildworld Tour, KATSEYE’s arena tour, played Europe from Sept. 1 in Dublin to Sept. 17 in Copenhagen. The North American leg opens Oct. 13 in Miami and runs through the East Coast, the South, the Midwest, Canada and the West Coast before closing Nov. 27 in Mexico City.
The labels haven’t said whether Sophia will rejoin for North America; the European leg was played as a four-piece.
More music: here’s how to watch the VMAs on Sunday night, and why Ed Sheeran found himself in the middle of Macklemore’s tour. For the rest of Saturday’s show, here’s the SNL Season 52 guide. More in Music.
— Bruno Monteiro
Sources: NBC Insider, “Who Are the Members of KATSEYE?” by Chris Phelan (Sept. 21, 2026); HYBE x Geffen statements on Manon Bannerman (Feb. 20, 2026) and Sophia Laforteza (Aug. 7 and Aug. 30, 2026), as reported by Teen Vogue (Aug. 31, 2026); Stereogum, by Margaret Farrell (Sept. 27, 2026); NME (Sept. 27, 2026); Complex and Billboard on Ed Sheeran and “Animal” (July 2026); Allure (June 2026); TODAY (August 2026); KATSEYE on X (Sept. 19 and Sept. 21, 2026, and the VMA nominee card); Wildworld Tour dates as announced May 13, 2026; GMA Entertainment on Sophia Laforteza’s birthday; Recording Academy, 2026 Grammy nominations.
Reported from the original post on Site.
How FameCrumbs reports · Request a correction
