Fact Check: Are Survival Show Contestants Forced To Go On Diets?
Former Girls Planet 999 contestant Tammy Wu recently sat down for an interview with Grazy Grace. She discussed a variety of topics including the insane filming hours of the show, what trainees fought about most, and more.
At one point, the topic of diets was also brought up. Since the contestants are aiming to form a girl group—and K-Pop companies are notorious for imposing diets on idols—Grace wondered if this also happened to Tammy.
She started her answer by mentioning that other survival programs likely did so.
I’ve heard of previous shows where they had to be put on diets.
— Tammy
Produce 101 Season 1, for instance, even included a clip on their show where the trainees were put on a “special menu” to lose weight.
Fortunately for the Girls Planet 999 contestants, they were not pressured to do the same.
But for our show actually they didn’t force us to be on diets.
— Tammy
Because of the stressful nature of survival shows, the girls ate more than they usually would. Tammy said she even gained 4-5kg (8.8-11lbs) throughout the half year of filming.
We were kind of stress eating a lot. Myself, I gained like four of five kilograms.
— Tammy
When this happened, some staff members requested that they slow down on their food intake just so the costumes they were to wear still fit. Thus, losing weight was not something forced upon them during the entirety of the program.
They would come over and ask us, ‘Can you guys please eat a little less so we don’t have to fix your costume again?’ Since they measured us already. So they would say that but they wouldn’t force us to go on diets.
We were kind of stress eating a lot. Myself, I gained like four of five kilograms.
— Tammy
Check out the full video below.
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