KATSEYE say the “door is always open” for bandmate Manon Bannerman to return after her indefinite hiatus.
The 24-year-old singer announced in February (26) that she was taking a break from the manufactured girl group for her “health and wellbeing” - with the news sparking concern among fans.
Now the rest of the band - Yoonchae, Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Megan Skiendiel and Sophia Laforteza - have opened up about her the break, and said they are always ready to welcome her back.
Sophia said: “Because we did announce that it is about her well-being, it’s not our place or anybody else’s place to rush her.
“We want to give her all the time that she needs, all the space that she needs, and so we don’t want to make any assumptions, set anything in stone… She really deserves that and the door is always open.
“We love her and the fans love her. The people love her. They love KATSEYE. If I was in their place, I would be asking too, and so we understand.
“But what we can say is that we wish that you could just keep extending love and support and patience and all those things, because all of us deserve that. Anybody does.”
After Manon announced her decision to take a break back in February, the group released a statement in which they promised they remained “committed to showing up for one another and for the fans who mean everything to us”.
They added: “The group will continue scheduled activities during this time, and we look forward to being together again when the time is right.”
KATSEYE found fame after they were put together in Netflix competition series Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE, and have enjoyed chart hits with songs such as Internet Girl and Pinky Up.
However, during an interview with the BBC in November 2025, they admitted that the comments they receive online “can get really heavy” - with some trolls even going as far as to send death threats.
Sophia sighed: “No human is supposed to receive that much feedback on something that they've created, and so we're learning to do what we want, work as hard as we can, know that we just did something we love and try to stay off of that and not have that be our validation or the reason why we do what we do.”
