'Fandom Stage' PD Kim Ye-seul Defends TWICE Fan Casting Amid Backlash

"It was upsetting that a controversy came up. But there's one thing I can say with confidence. Everyone who applied on their own and got picked was more than qualified to be called a real fan."

Kim Ye-seul, the producer behind Wavve's fan survival show "Fandom Stage," sat down for an interview at the Ten Asia office in Seoul's Jung district recently. She was aware of the pushback from some viewers of the show. One contestant representing ONCE, the fandom for TWICE, was shown on air struggling with the group's official fan chants. After it came out that she also works as an influencer, some viewers questioned whether she was truly a fan.

Kim was firm on this point. She said there was no doubt about the contestant's love for the group. Casting focused first on genuine fandom, she said, and if the show gets another season, she wants to think harder about how to build a more diverse lineup of fandoms.

"Fandom Stage" launched on Wavve on the 29th of last month. It puts K-pop fans, who usually stay behind the camera, at the center of the show. Contestants compete through games and missions that test how deep their fandom really goes. Ten fandoms took part: MyDay of DAY6, Monbebe of MONSTA X, Fan God of g.o.d, MOA of TOMORROW X TOGETHER, SHINee World of SHINee, CARAT of SEVENTEEN, ONCE of TWICE, V.I.P of BIGBANG, EXO-L of EXO, and BRIIZE of RIIZE.

Debate broke out online soon after the show dropped. A clip of the TWICE fandom contestant struggling with the fan chant spread, and news of her influencer work followed. Some fans openly asked whether she was really a ONCE.

Kim was aware of all of it. "Her love for the artist and the depth of her feelings were not shallow at all. She has more than enough to be called a real fan in every sense," Kim said. "On top of that, she has a rare look and a fun personality, and we saw those as secondary charms when we cast her."

She said the fallout was not something the team expected. "It really upset me that the controversy came up. Of course not every contestant could shine in every game, but honestly it wasn't just her. There were bigger and smaller debates between the fandoms too," she said.

Kim added that it feels unfair to judge a contestant's entire fandom based on one clip. "In the semifinal and the final, aside from the fan chant part that got attention, she really did well in the other games. She had plenty of knowledge too," she said.

The conversation moved to how the cast was put together. Out of the ten fandoms on the show, ONCE was the only girl group fandom. After the premiere, some viewers pointed out that the gender balance of the fandoms felt tilted.

"We had one guideline about mixing different generations, and after that we focused on each contestant's personality and how the group would work together. That's how we ended up with these ten teams," she said. "Looking back, the biggest thing I regret is that only one girl group fandom made it in."

Kim said the outcome was not planned that way from the start. "Applications from boy group fandoms were overwhelmingly higher," she said. "Among the girl group fandoms, TWICE's fandom had the highest number of applicants, so we were able to pick four people from there."

She continued, "If we get to do a season two, I want to build a more diverse lineup. It's not that we didn't think about that side of things." She added, "We felt it was better to focus on each contestant's individual charm than to force a gender balance. We thought that fit the point of the show better."

Kim created "Fandom Stage" to show fandoms not as groups that just follow or spend on their favorite artists, but as people who love those artists in their own way. There may have been noise around one contestant. But she said she has no doubt about the fandom of anyone who took part.