Mnet stays silent on reports that former IZ*ONE members will join 'Queendom'

Nako and Hitomi, members of the former girl group IZ*ONE [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Mnet declined to confirm local media reports saying Hitomi and Nako from girl group IZ*ONE would be participating in its upcoming idol competition show, “Queendom: Puzzle.”

“We are currently in the overall casting process, and it will be hard to confirm [their appearances] at the moment,” cable network Mnet told the Korea JoongAng Daily on Wednesday.

Local media reported Wednesday that both Hitomi and Nako will both be joining “Queendom: Puzzle” to compete for a place in the final project girl group.

“The artists participating in the program will be revealed in May, which we are sure everyone will be surprised by,” Mnet said in a statement on April 10.

“Queendom: Puzzle,” set to air in June, will feature solo artists and individual members from different girl groups forming different subunits “like a puzzle” as the program process, competing for a spot in a project girl group that Mnet will debut after the final episode.

“Queendom” is a series of survival program shows, where girl groups and female artists compete by releasing songs at the same time. Participating groups and artists have thus far been able to cover songs of other idols and release songs with styles they may not normally attempt.

“Queendom” (2019) featured girl groups such as Lovelyz, Mamamoo and (G)I-DLE, and “Queendom 2” (2022) featured girl groups including Kep1er, Viviz, Loona and WJSN.

Honda Hitomi made her debut as a member of Japanese girl group AKB48 in 2014. She rose to popularity in 2018 after participating in Mnet’s idol audition program, “Produce 48.” After finishing No. 9 on the show, Hitomi made her second debut in the project girl group IZ*ONE. She returned to AKB48 after IZ*ONE disbanded in 2021, and has been continuing her activities in Japan since.

Yabuki Nako, having made her debut in 2014 as a member of HKT48, joined “Produce 48” with Sakura from the same team, where the two members both made it into the project girl group IZ*ONE. After returning to HKT48 in 2021, she left the group on April 1 this year.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]