In a statement released on February 20th, fans were told the news. The statement released on South Korean social media Weverse reads “After open and thoughtful conversations together, we are sharing that Manon will be taking a temporary hiatus from group activities to focus on her health and wellbeing.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by manon (@meretmanon)

Katseye was formed on a competition style reality show named Dream Academy in 2023. From 120,000 applications to 20 contestants, following rigorous training Manon alongside the other members Sophia Laforteza, Yoonchae Jeung, Lara Raj, Daniela Avanzini, and Megan Skiendiel were chosen as the members of Katseye. Described as a global girl group, Katseye’s hails members from the Philippines, South Korea, Switzerland, and the United States. Dream Academy, a project backed by Hybe and Geffen records, Katseye includes the first Indian, Filipina, Latina, and Black artists to be signed under HYBE. Katseye sit with KPOP royalty signed to HYBE with the label mates being New Jeans, Enhypen and BTS.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GRAMMYS (@grammys)

The group embarked on their first tour; the Beautiful Chaos tour in November 2025, performing 16 shows across north America. Their debut and second singles ‘Debut’ and ‘Touch’ respectively, have together have garnered over 300 million views on Youtube. EP’s ‘SIS (Soft is Strong)’ and ‘Beautiful Chaos’, followed as Katseye once again captured attention with a string of hit singles ‘Gnarly’, ‘Gameboy’ and ‘Gabriela’ . Fans have been assured that despite Manon’s absence, “The group will continue scheduled activities during this time, and we look forward to being together again when the time is right.”

Over the past 18 months, Katseye have been catapulted into stardom and in Google’s “Trending musicians ranking, placed 2nd in 2025. Collaborations and sponsorships with worldwide brands; Coach, Fendi and most famously Gap, have demonstrated Katseye’s impact on global fashion. Their influence on trends made evident as TikTok named Katseye the “Global Artist of the Year” in 2025, with their videos reaching over 30 billion views and were most recently nominated for Best New Artist and Best Pop/Duo Group Performance at the 2026 Grammys. Katseye have been remarked for their high energy performance and catchy songs and have performed at Wango Tango, Lollapalooza and are schedule to perform at Coachella later this year. The group’s most recent public appearance was on the Jimmy Fallon show.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Tonight Show (@fallontonight)

The seven song record is their 14th mini-album. It includes tracks like 80s beat inspired track “Kiss My Troubles Away”, two versions of “Strategy” (one featuring Megan Thee Stallion, one without), “Sweetest Obsession”, a track spoiled by the members at their ninth anniversary fan meeting earlier in October, and a Christmassy, winter themed song “Magical”.  The album also includes “Keeper”, a track written by member Kim Dahyun. Following its release, the album has reached a peak of no.40 on the UK iTunes albums chart, with each song charting on the UK K-pop albums chart, including “Strategy feat. Megan Thee Stallion” which has peaked at no.2.

“Strategy” Songs iTunes UK K-pop Charts Peak Positions

2. “Strategy feat. Megan Thee Stallion”

6. “Strategy”

8. “Magical”

12. “Sweetest Obsession”

13. “Like It Like It”

74. “Keeper”

75. “Kiss My Troubles Away”

Strategy features Twice’s signature catchy sound whilst exploring a new, more mature sound. The addition of Megan Thee Stallion, in what is Twice’s first ever lead single featuring another artist, is seamless – her vibe and sound fitting the song perfectly, still bringing a rap that is inherently what she’s known for.

Twice are a nine member Korean girl group formed through the survival television show “Sixteen” and created by JinYoung Park, founder of Korean entertainment company JYP Entertainment. The members in age order are Im Nayeon, Yoo Jeongyeon, Hirai Momo, Minatozaki Sana, Park Jihyo, Myoui Mina, Kim Dahyun, Son Chaeyoung and Chou Tzuyu. After a successful debut with debut mini-album “The Story Begins” and lead single “Like OOH-AHH”, Twice solidified their status in Korea with the release of their second mini album “Page Two” and the viral hit “Cheer UP”. The song was their first PAK (Perfect All Kill, a term used when a song reaches number one on all of the popular real time charts in real time) and produced the viral “Shy Shy Shy” meme. The achieved the same with lead singles “TT” (2016), “Knock Knock” (2017) and “Yes or Yes” (2018). The group have an extensive discography in both Korean and Japanese, boasting 14 Korean mini albums and three full albums and five full Japanese albums.

Twice have conquered the South Korean and Japanese music scene for ten years at this point, and they’re already record breakers in the US. For their most recent tour, “Ready To Be World Tour”, they performed to sold out crowds in London’s O2 Arena, marking the first shows they ever performed in Europe.

With their success in their home country, and the home country of Japanese members, Momo, Sana and Mina, and the success in the US in recent years, the group undertake promotions in all three countries for album releases. Their newest release, “Strategy” marks their first English title track, hinting at their marketing towards a more global music market, and bringing in Megan Thee Stallion for their second collaboration (the first being Twice’s feature on the Mamushi remix released earlier this year), will they achieve their highest charting song in the UK so far? Up to now they featured heavily on the official albums download chart with eleven entries since 2019, but have not yet had a top ten entry into the official UK singles chart. Megan Thee Stallion has featured on the Hip Hop and R&B charts and the album charts with a top 40 album, and this year had the viral song “Mamushi feat Yuki Chiba”.

An anomaly, as a group so active in their tenth year, Twice do not look like they’re slowing down. Just this year they’ve had three group releases and multiple solo works and subunit activities for Japanese member trio MISAMO.

Twice activities this year

With you-th – Twice 

NA – Nayeon (Member solo)

Dive –  Twice (Japanese full album) 

AbouTzu – Tzuyu (Member solo debut)

Haute Couture – MISAMO (Mina, Sana, Momo – Member subunit)

Strategy – Twice

They’re heavyweights in the music markets of South Korea, Japan and the US, play to sold out audiences in almost every continent in the world, and they’re simply masters of performance. They’re known for the synchronised in their dancing , catchy lyrics, powerful vocals and smooth rapping that fits their style. But will this translate to higher levels of success in the UK music scene?

After their albums release on Friday (December 6), the album and all of the songs from it have featured on UK iTunes chart. As of December 7, “Strategy” was no.1 on Korea’s real time daily physical albums chart (Hanteo), beating “Rosie“, by Rosé, which was highly anticipated and released on the same day. Will they finally have their big break in the UK music charts?

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (@tottenhamhotspurstadium)

The group is currently on tour, having started at the KSPO Dome in Seoul, South Korea, on August 24 this year. They performed four shows in the Dome before travelling to Singapore and later Australia, where members Bang Chan and Felix hail from. The boys are currently gearing up for a show in the Philippines following three shows in the Tokyo Dome, Japan, where it’s estimated that they garnered an audience of 165,000.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

A post shared by Stray Kids (@realstraykids)

Stray Kids, also known as SKZ, are a South Korean boy group created by JYP Entertainment in 2017. The members competed in a survival show “Stray Kids” where two members, Felix and Lee Know, were eliminated but returned to make a nine-member final lineup. Other members are Bang Chan, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Seungmin, and I.N. (former member Woojin left the group in 2019 for personal reasons). The group are well known for producing their music, with the producing group called 3Racha comprising members BangChan, Changbin and Han – other members are known to be lyricists too. They are known for hits such as “Case 143”, “Chk Chk Boom”, “God’s Menu” and “Thunderous”. Their music is a mix of hip-hop, dubstep, heavy metal, electroclash and dance pop. According to the BBC, their music is “dark and experimental”.

The tour is in support of their most recent release, “Ate,” their ninth mini album. The album was produced by 3Racha, along with Versachoi, DallasK, Restart, Chae Gang-hae, and Space Primates. The lead single is “Chk Chk Boom,” the music video for which stars Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. The hip hop and reggaeton inspired track gained 15.5 millions views in it’s first 24 hours on YouTube, and marked the group’s first entry into the UK top 40 where it reached no.30.

Their return to the UK comes after they headlined Hyde Park earlier this year, which marked their first UK festival performance. They performed for a sold out crowd of 65,000 in the first major UK festival headlined by an all male member kpop group. K-pop girl group and fellow label members NMIXX also performed. It marks an emerging tradition as the year previous BLACKPINK headlined and Korean group The Rose were among the supporting acts.

Fans and kpop enthusiasts are highly anticipating the return of Stray Kids to the UK. Tickets are yet to go on sale, and the sales will open November 27. Ticketing information can be found on the group’s official website or on the Live Nation website.