KATSEYE spills unfiltered truths while answering questions

The global girl group KATSEYE answered uncomfortable questions and shared honest confessions at Vanity Fair’s “Hot Seat” challenge.

Filipino-American Sophia Laforteza immediately recalled two incidents when asked what their most embarrassing moment while performing was.  The first was in their "Gnarly" performance at the Wango Tango music festival, when people compared one of her dance moves to a flip-flop. Daniela Avanzini laughed as she remembered it too.

The second was in Brazil when she wasn't properly warmed up before singing. While attempting a higher note, her voice suddenly cracked. Instead of criticizing her, fans rushed to her defense, insisting it wasn't a voice crack at all. Some claimed it was a "vocal flip," while others jokingly called it a "Filipino throat chakra." 

Sophia laughed as she admitted, "You guys know my voice just cracked, actually." Megan Skiendiel added to the joke, saying fans even blamed the tune instead.

 Sophia was laughing when people blamed the mishap on everything except her, mimicking, "It's the tune. It's the mic. It's the sound. It's not her. Could never be my dear Sophia. Could never be my powerful leader, Sophia."

The group was also asked about the hardest part of transitioning from competitors to teammates. Sophia shared that although all 20 trainees were competing against each other, they also genuinely wanted one another to succeed. She felt they already had the mindset of one group even before KATSEYE officially formed.

According to her, building friendships was never the difficult part.  “I think the bond was always there.” The real challenge was discovering their identity and artistry as KATSEYE. 

Sophia reflected that their sisterhood had always been there.  “It's really cool that we were able to be a kind of chosen family for a situation that was chosen for us.”

Bringing together girls from around the world with one shared goal while constantly making decisions and reaching a consensus isn't easy, she said, but they're making it work.

Daniela was asked if they had ever preferred another member's outfit over their own during their past performance. She admitted, “I actually do enjoy my outfit the most, but there's been a lot of shoots where I liked another girl's outfit more than my own.”

She specifically mentioned Coachella, saying it was the one time she liked her outfit the least because the pattern wasn't really her taste, even though she still thought it was cute.

The conversation turned more personal when the members were asked to reveal an insecurity fans would be surprised to know. As Megan was about to answer, Sophia reached out and asked if she needed someone to hold her hand.

Megan admitted that she often feels awkward and is still trying to figure out how to be "KATSEYE Megan" while remaining true to herself.

“I think finding that bridge and that balance is a little bit hard, especially with everything that happens on the internet and being in the public eye and so many eyes on you," she admitted. She emphasized that she's just a 20-year-old girl trying to figure things out.

When asked about her most toxic trait, Sophia immediately answered that it's how emotional she gets about certain situations. 

Daniela disagreed, while Lara Raj said she actually saw the opposite. Sophia clarified that it isn't simply about having emotions but about how intensely she experiences them.

She said, “It can easily read as selfish, judgmental and not empathetic. To people that don't truly know me." Lara agreed, adding that another trait is Sophia's tendency to avoid some situations. Sophia admitted she is a huge avoidant. 

“If I don't want to deal with something, I will literally just drop it and then automatically turn off my feelings for it.” People often assume she doesn't care or isn't emotionally affected, when in reality she's simply afraid of opening what she called "Pandora's box."

Sophia shared that over the past few months, she's been actively working on changing that behavior. “I've learned that the only way that you can heal from being an avoidant is to acknowledge and accept that there's something to heal from,” she explained.

Although she admitted it's been really difficult, she feels she's making progress.  Sophia also thanked Lara for helping her recognize that her avoidance can come across as immature or selfish, even though that's not who she really is.

Lara clarified that those situations mostly involve Sophia's personal life rather than conflicts within the group, though Sophia acknowledged that those tendencies can sometimes affect the group's dynamics as well.

The members were also asked who holds grudges the longest. Lara immediately pointed to Daniela, saying, "Dani does hold a grudge. She does", before laughing and asking whether that answer might cause problems. Megan assured her that Daniela already knew.

Daniela admitted it was true, explaining that whenever someone upsets her, those feelings linger because she can't simply brush them aside. "Because, as a Cancer, I think I just take those things very deeply."

Sophia called her explanation beautiful, while Lara said Daniela's emotional depth is actually one of her strengths. Daniela acknowledged that she sometimes takes things more deeply than necessary, but that's simply how she processes emotions.

She added, “I don't know. That's just my reasoning.”

When asked about the most debated topic in the KATSEYE group chat, Jeong Yoonchae answered that they mostly talk about their schedules and how exhausted they feel. Their conversations often begin with, "Guys, how do you feel today?" and "I couldn't wake up today."

“And then we blame it on the weather,” Sophia added. Lara admitted that the group chat has become their designated place for "pity parties" because they're the only people who truly understand what each other is going through. 

Yoonchae agreed, saying it's the one place where they feel comfortable venting because no one else is there. “That's the only place that we can say that stuff,” Yoonchae said. Lara agreed, adding that nobody is going to snitch.

The interview wrapped up with a hypothetical question: if all of their mothers formed a K-pop group, who would be the leader?’ Although Sophia is KATSEYE's leader, she immediately said it wouldn't be her own mom. 

Daniela initially thought it might be, but after hearing Sophia's answer, she suggested either Megan's or Lara's mom instead. Yoonchae agreed with Megan's mom, while Lara laughed and said, “No, no, no.  Trust me. You guys know my mom. My mom would be a Lara, but she wouldn't be the Sophia.”

She insisted that auntie Sylvia, Megan's mom, would naturally be the leader. Sophia agreed, describing Megan's mom as the group's anchor. Megan shared that her mom practically works alongside them.

“She knows more than I do about what I do,” Megan added. Lara said in jest that Megan's mom would be the one waking everyone up and making sure they got to rehearsals on time.  Megan laughed and said she would definitely keep everyone in line. 

Daniela closed the interview by expressing gratitude for all of their families, especially their mothers. “Having a good support system, especially like your own mother, is always so nice to have. So thank you, mommies, for always being there for us. We love you. We literally couldn't have done it without you,” she ended.

The entire group joined in, giving a shoutout to their "mommies" and thanking them for all their love and support.