Nancy is a South Korean singer, actress, and television host. She is a Maknae (the youngest of the South Korean girl group Momoland.
Wiki/Biography
Nancy Jewel McDonie was born on Thursday, April 13, 2000 (aged 21; since 2021) in Nam-gu, Daegu, South Korea. Her Korean name is Lee Seung-ri. Later, in an interview with Mnet in 2020, she announced that her Korean name was Lee Geu-roo (Geu-loo or Geu-Ru). She grew up in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Her zodiac sign is Aries.
Nancy’s childhood picture with her elder sister
She had her primary education at Wolbae Primary School, Daegu, and Hyoja Primary School, Pohang. Because her father was in the US Army, she left South Korea when she was two years old; she stayed a few months in Dublin, Ireland, then moved to Ohio. After living in the United States for six years, she returned to South Korea in 2009. In 2018, she graduated from high school in music at Hanlim Multi Art School, Seoul, South Korea.
Nancy with her teammate during her graduation ceremony at Hanlim Multi Art School, Seoul
She graduated with a major in Media and Visual Interpretation from Sungshin Women’s University, Seoul.
Physical appearance
- Height (approx): 5’ 3.65” (162 cm)
- Eye color: Brown (she also wears different colored contact lenses)
- Hair Color: Being a Kpop idol, Nancy frequently changes her hair color. However, her actual hair is black.
Family & Ethnicity
She is of South Korean and Irish descent. His father, Richard Lee McDonie, is an American and a retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Army. Her mother’s name is Lee Myung-Joo. She is South Korean. Her father was in military service in Daegu and fell in love with her mother who served the unit at that time.
A family picture of Nancy when she was a child
Nancy’s Parents
She has an older sister named Brenda Jowel McDonie (Cellist).
Nancy with her elder sister
Career
Agency
MLD (2016–present)
Korean reality shows
In 2010, she made her television debut as a child entertainer on the TV show “Hangul Train Chipo” which aired on EBS.
Nancy in Hangul Train Chipo (2012)
She then appeared on the popular South Korean reality show Hello Counselor: Season 1 (2010). Since childhood, Nancy wanted to be a K-pop idol, so her mother enrolled her in a dance class, where she formed a hip-hop group with three other girls, and they were called Cutie Pies.
Nancy (second from left) in Cutie Pies
In 2011, she auditioned as part of “Cutie Pies” in Korea’s Got Talent. The group reached the semi-finals and came fourth.
Nancy in Korea’s Got Talent (2011)
She then appeared on the Tooniverse shows The Unlimited Show (2011-13), Mak Ee Rae Show: Just Do It Expedition (2012), and Olala School 2 (2014). In 2017, she appeared in the acting reality show “Idol Acting Competition” in which she was one of the finalists. The show aired on K Star.
Nancy in Idol Acting Competition (2017)
In 2020, she participated in the singing reality show “King of Mask Singer” in the 143rd generation of Mask King.
Nancy in Kind of Mask Singer (2020)
Momo Land
In 2016, Mnet launched a survival reality show “Finding Momoland” produced by MLD Entertainment. The show featured teenage MLD trainees who competed to form a seven-member K-pop girl group, “Momoland.” She finished the show in second place and became a member of Momoland.
Nancy and other participants of Momoland
Speaking about her experience on the show, Nancy said:
It was terribly shaky. It’s a regrettable part, but it’s an honor to be the 4th appearance after the members. Because I worked in a team called “Momoland”, I was scared when I found myself alone on stage. I wanted to overcome stage fright during this year.
Momoland had to wait for their debut as they failed to complete their final mission of gathering 3,000 people for their concert on the show. However, they continued their training at MLD and attended music festivals and school concerts, successfully crowdfunding their debut album. Momoland debuted on November 10, 2016, with the mini-album “Welcome to Momoland”.
The cover picture of Welcome to Momoland (2016)
On the same day, they made their stage debut on the music TV show M Countdown with their single “Welcome to Momoland” and the single “Jjan!” Koong! Kwang! »
After two other members joined the group, Momoland released their first single album “Wonderful Love” in 2016 with a single of the same name.
Momoland released their second EP “Freeze! in 2017. In June 2018, Momoland released their third album “Great! with her single “Bboom Bboom,” which became a huge commercial success and peaked at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart.
The band went on to release further EPs Fun to the World (2018), Show Me (2019) and Starry Night (2020), and single albums Thumbs Up (2019) and Ready or Not (2020). The EPs featured popular singles like Baam, I’m So Hot, and Starry Night. In 2019, Momoland released their first Japanese album “Chiri Chiri”. The album included hit singles such as Boom Boom, Baam, I’m So Hot, Freeze, and Wonderful Love (EDM). The singles Boom Boom, Baam and I’m So Hot peaked on Oricon Singles Chart at number four, number eight, and number eight, respectively.
Logo of Chiri Chiri (2009)
The triumph of Nancy and her group not only in Korea but also in the Philippines. They have performed in countries like Japan, the USA, Vietnam, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and Mexico.
Acting
In 2017, she made her acting debut in Naver’s “Some Light” series in the lead role of “Nancy.”
Nancy in Some Light (2017)
In 2018, she made a brief appearance as a trainee idol in the MBC Kdrama “Dae Jang Geum Is Watching.” In 2021, she appeared in the lead role of “Binna” in the Filipino miniseries “The Soulmate Project”. produced by ABS-CBN and Dreamscape Entertainment.
Other works
In 2016, when Momoland was about to debut, Nancy appeared in South Korean singer MC Gree’s music video and comeback scene.
On November 19, 2016, it was announced that she would join Inkigayo’s project girl group “Sunny Girls”, along with Eunha from GFriend, Cheng Xiao from WJSN, YooA from Oh My Girl, and Gugudan. They made their official debut on SBS’s Inkigayo stage on November 27, 2016, with the title track “Taxi”.
Nancy performing ‘Taxi’ with Sunny Girls
On December 26, 2016, Sunny Girls also performed at the annual SBS Gayo Daejeon TV Music Festival. She sang the title track of “Some Light” (2017), the Kdrama she starred in, with Ha Min-woo from Kpop boy band ZE: A. From March 2017 to June 2018, she hosted the TV show “Pops in Seoul” on Arirang TV. The show features current music, K-pop culture news, and provides overseas viewers with the latest Korean pop music and information.
Nancy in Pops in Seoul (2017-18)
In 2018, Momoland released their own show “Momoland’s Saipan Land” in which Momoland travels to Saipan, where they were given the opportunity to do whatever they want for 48 hours. The show aired on MBC Network.
Idol Star Athletics Championships
In 2018, she participated in the “Idol Star Athletics Bowling Archery Rhythmic Gymnastics Foot Volleyball Championships” held at Goyang Gymnasium in Goyang, South Korea on August 20-27, 2018. The event was broadcast on MBC on September 25 and 26, 2018. The show features male and female K-pop idols competing with each other in various sports competitions. Momoland finished second in the 4×100 m relay and won a silver medal. Momoland also participated in 2019 but did not win any competition. In 2020, Momoland participated in the event again and came second in Ssirem/Korea wrestling, and they won the silver medal.
Momoland during 2020 Idol Star Athletics Championship
Prizes/Honors
Important prizes
- Gaon Chart Music Awards – World K-Pop Rookie in 2018
Momoland in the Asia Artist Award
- Genie Music Awards for The Performing Artist – Female for the song ‘Boom Boom’ in 2018
Momoland during the Genie Music Award
- Melon Music Awards – 1theK Performance Award in 2018
Momoland with their Melon Music Award
- Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) – Discovery of the Year in 2018
Momoland with their Mnet Asian Music Award
- Golden Disc Awards – Digital Bonsang for the song ‘Boom Boom’ in 2019
Momoland in the Golden Disc Award
- Japan Gold Disc Award for Top 3 New Artists (Asia) in 2019
- Seoul Music Awards – Bonsang Prize in 2019
Momoland with their Seoul Music Award
- Soribada Best K-Music Awards – Bonsang Award in 2019
Momoland in the Soribada Best K Music Award
- Korean Arts and Culture Awards – Korean Wave Idol Award in 2021
Asian Artist Awards
- 2017 Rising Star Award
Momoland in the Asia Artist Award
- Best Icon Award – Music in 2018
- 2019 Choice Award
Other rewards
- Asia Model Awards – New Featured Singer in 2017
Momoland in the Asia Model Award
- Korea-China Management Awards – Asia Rising Star in 2017
- Korean Culture Entertainment Award – K-Pop Artist Award in 2017
- Korea Brand Awards – Idol of the Year in 2018
- Korea Cable TV Awards – Artist of the Year in 2018
- Korea Popular Music Awards – Bonsang Award in 2018
- MTN Broadcast Advertising Festival – Rookie Star Award in 2018
- The Fact Music Awards – Artist of the Year (Bonsang) in 2019
Momoland with their The Fact Music Award
- Korean Entertainment Arts Awards – Group Singer Award in 2020
Controversies
- Nancy has previously been attacked by netizens for making fun of bulimia, an eating disorder. In her defense, she said she jokes about it as a coping mechanism, as she has suffered from it in the past.
- In November 2018, Momoland was criticized by Army (BTS fandom) for disrespecting the boy band BTS at MGA (MBC Plus X Genie Music Awards). The military accused Momoland of making fun of BTS’s Jimin voice during their “Fake Love” performance and not bowing to them as they passed, which is considered disrespectful in South Korea. Armies were angry and flooded Momoland’s Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube accounts with angry messages.
- In 2018, Momoland has embroiled in the Sajaegi (graphics manipulation) controversy when their album “Super! sold over 8,000 copies in a single day. Their sudden surge in sales aroused the suspicions of netizens who first reported it. Later, South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism cleared Momoland of Sajaegi’s charges.
- In 2018, Nancy was criticized by the Blackpink Blinks fandom for staring blankly at Blackpink as they presented their winning speech for their song “DDU-DU DDU-DU” at MBC’s Show Champion. Blinks and netizens condemned Nancy for her bad manners.
- In April 2020, Nancy was supposed to shoot for an upcoming Philippine series, which was delayed due to the COVID 2020 lockdown in South Korea. When Nancy was asked about this in an interview, she was found saying:
All that nonsense and quarantine whatever.
It didn’t sit well with netizens who blamed him for being callous as people were affected due to COVID and even lost their lives.
- In January 2021, someone illegally took Nancy’s photos and manipulated them. The photos went viral on the internet, damaging Nancy’s image. After the incident, Nancy’s agency released a statement, saying,
Nancy is a victim of inappropriately taken and manipulated photos. The person who must be protected first is Nancy. We ask for your cooperation with a heavy heart. We will continue our legal actions without leniency and without reaching a settlement. Nancy is currently going through severe emotional turmoil. We sincerely ask you: we wish an end to the malicious messages that harass our artists. We want to express our gratitude to the fans who always love and support our artists. We will continue to do our best to secure the personal and given rights of our artists.
Favorites
- Colour(s): Bordeaux, Pink, Black
- Food: Food with cheese, mint chocolate, Malatang, Hot pot, Sushi, Tteokbokki
- Group: GFriend
- Singer: Sowon (from GFriend)
- Travel destination(s): Paris, Boracay
Facts / Anecdotes
- In her spare time, she enjoys doing makeup, doing nail art, playing Nintendo games, traveling, shopping, watching American dramas, and singing Disney songs. During the COVID lockdown in South Korea, she developed a diamond painting hobby.
- Her nicknames are Jo Nancy and Aenaen.
- Nancy follows Christianity.
- Nancy’s blood type is O.
- After Nancy returned to South Korea after six years in the United States, she struggled to blend in with the surroundings. Her mother always teased her about the differences between American and South Korean cultures, which scared her. After transferring to a South Korean school, she didn’t speak Korean well, but she didn’t face much difficulty because her friends helped her.
- She speaks good Korean and English and can also speak a little Japanese.
- She loves elephants and unicorns. She often buys toys or things with elephants and unicorns.
Nancy wearing a unicorn top
A picture of unicorn shoes that Nancy owns
- The Momoland fandom is known as Merry-Go-Rounds.
- If she hadn’t been a performer, Nancy would have been a cellist like her sister Brenda. In an interview, she said that her sister went to a school to play the cello, so she also played the cello. She stopped because she wanted to sing and dance. According to her,If I didn’t, I would probably do the same.
- Momoland has done a lot of philanthropic activities. The band held a concert in South Korea, where they donated ticket sales to children injured in car crashes in school zones. In April 2018, they organized a charity concert to benefit victims of violence and abuse.
- In February 2018, Momoland was appointed as the new ambassador of the Korean Red Cross Blood Service.
- In October 2018, Momoland held their first charity concert in the Philippines. All proceeds from their concert went to the children of two Antipolo City barangays: Barangay San Jose and Barangay Calawis. Clothing and other basic necessities were also distributed to the children after the concert.
- Nancy fans have often said that Nancy and Filipino-American actress Liza Soberano are lookalikes. During a Facebook Live session with Ahin and Daisy from Momoland in April 2018, Nancy searched the internet for pictures of Liza to see what her fans were talking about. Nancy was stunned and said Liza looked like Ariana Grande. A year later, in 2019, Nancy and Liza finally met and posed for a picture together. Nancy uploaded the photo to her social media accounts and captioned the post, “Nice to meet you, Liza.”
Nancy with Liza Soberano
- In January 2020, Nancy was named an ambassador for popular skincare brand Some By Mi. A Some By Mi representative said they chose Nancy because,
Its healthy and pure image fits well with the direction we are pursuing, of our clean and natural skincare products.
Nancy advertising for Some By Mi
- She has a pet dog named Beachu.
Nancy’s pet dog
- She officially joined Instagram on October 9 2019 and her first post was a picture of herself on a yacht with the caption “hi.”
The first picture of Nancy on Instagram
