Ji-ae of disbanded K-pop girl group WA$$UP shared the struggles she had as bisexual before she came out.
On February 21 episode of Channel S' television show 'Trouble Cut Salon', Ji-ae made a guest appearance.
Ji-ae debuted as a member of WA$$UP in August 2013; the group disbanded four years ago in February 2019.
She came out as bisexual through her Instagram in the beginning of 2020.
At that time, she revealed that she had a girlfriend, and also took legal action against haters who bashed her for being bisexual.
During the talk with 'Trouble Cut Salon' hosts, Ji-ae told when she started seeing girls, not guys, "I've dated a lot of different guys until I was like 25. But it never lasted more than three months with them. Even when I was with them, my heart felt empty. So, I thought to myself, 'How about start seeing girls? Why does it have to be guys, right?' That's how it all started."
She resumed, "At one point after I realized that I was bisexual, I wanted to upload a video of myself talking about the life of a bisexual person on my YouTube channel. But I worked as a vocal coach at that time, so I worried that my boss, co-workers and students would watch the video."
"But as I worked there, I kept on feeling like I was lying to them. Due to that, I kept losing my confidence. So, I decided to just let the world know that I was bisexual.", explaining why she decided to come out in the end.
Afterwards, Ji-ae stated she could not sign with an agency that she was going to sign simply because she was bisexual.
Ji-ae said, "Following our group's disbandment, one agency offered me to join them. It gave me hope. I was like, 'Oh, this might be a good opportunity for me. It would be great to release solo albums and stuff.' Right when we were about to sign our contract, they told me, 'We run our business based on Christian beliefs.'"
She continued, "Their words scared me. I was scared that they would say something to me. If I signed with them without telling them that I was bisexual, it meant that I was deceiving them. So, I ended up ghosting them."
Ji-ae is the first-ever female K-pop group member to come out as bisexual.
(Credit= Channel S Trouble Cut Salon)