Wonhee of Illit is unique that she was the only contestant who had said a nonKPopper was her role model, when most people cited Blackpink or a member of it , or a pop star, as the role model.
Given the incalculable harm Wonhee's role model caused to KPop it was a strange choice for a KPop figure.
But that is understandable since she was recruited by belieflab a whooping one month before R U Next, recruited at a bus terminal.
Kang Hyewon of IZOne was, I have to say now, the least talented of IZOne, and she and Kim Minju were often called the members which were rigged in. Curiously both are no longer with KPop, Kim MInju having disappeared after playing a bit role, and Kang Hyewon also playing a supporting role in a Im Siwan drama.
The other members of Illit trained for at least 3 years, two of them joining from Japan. Youngseo, the member who left, had said she had trained with NewJeans members so she was there for a while as well.
There are some members in more famous idol groups who trained for a short time. Yeeun/Hatfelt of Wonder Girls is a legend; she trained for a total of zero days, JYP just selecting her at the spot. Olivia Hye of former Loona trained for two days.
However Hatfelt joined KPop at its infancy. Goo Hara and Kang Jiyoung had short trainee days but they were subsitute members for Kara in KPop's early days as well; it is virtually unknown for someone who was an ordinary person just one month before the audition show to take a spot in an act debuted by a major company nowdays.
I wonder what would the other members, who had toiled for years, think about her. It seems the Japanese members , who are newer to Korea and had less inhibitions, seem to be more friendly with Wonhee, while the two Korean members, who had trained for years, looking at her like someone who got a free ride.
The lift with GFriend, between Sowon and Yerin vs Umji, who was put in probably because her father invested money in Source, was never healed and now Sowon and Yerin have nothing to do with Umji. (Yuju is another story but I won't get into it today)
Putting someone who trained for a short time and never sharing the pains of debut was never a good idea since that creates resentment. How it will work will be an interesting point of Illit's trajectory.
