Yoonchae of KATSEYE at the 2026 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival on April 17, 2026 in Indio, Calif. Gilbert Flores/Billboard
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KATSEYE might be one of the world’s biggest girl groups right now, but at the end of the day, the members are just fangirls like everyone else. That was apparent when they met BTS in Las Vegas recently, during which Yoonchae says she “forgot” how to speak her native language because of how starstruck she felt.
Toward the beginning of their Monday (May 25) livestream on Weverse, Yoonchae and bandmate Sophia gushed about brushing elbows with the Bangtan Boys backstage at the AIRIRANG World Tour concert in Sin City. “I started crying,” Yoonchae, who is from Korea, recalled. “After that, my brain was blank.”
“They were all so down to earth,” said Sophia, who is from New York. “They were so kind. I looked to my right and Yoonchae wasn’t speaking. She was trying to compose herself. And then I was like, ‘Yoonchae’s Korean; she can speak Korean!'”
“My heart dropped when you said that,” Yoonchae replied, recreating how she started stuttering in the moment. “I was like, ‘I forgot Korean again.’ When I get nervous, I forget Korean.”
BTS is currently in the middle of a four-night stint at Allegiant Stadium, which KATSEYE attended while both groups were also in town for the American Music Awards. At the Monday night ceremony, the girl group won new artist of the year and shouted out the boy band on stage.
“We want to give a special shout-out to BTS tonight for inspiring us to represent our culture at a global scale,” Sophia said while accepting the award alongside Yoonchae, Lara, Daniela and Megan.
Backstage at the award show, KATSEYE posed for a picture with RM, Jung Kook, j-hope, SUGA, V, Jimin and Jin. BTS also won big that night, taking home artist of the year, best male K-pop artist and song of the summer for Billboard Hot 100-topping single “SWIM.” Both groups provided performances during the broadcast as well, with BTS contributing a pre-filmed take of single “Hooligan” live on tour and KATSEYE delivering hit “Pinky Up” — of which j-hope is apparently a fan — on stage at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
“When we walked in for the meet-and-greet, j-hope was doing ‘Pinky Up’ to us,” Sophia said on the livestream, miming the song’s signature dance move with her pinky. “He’s the best. They’re all the best.”
KATSEYE’s new EP, Wild — sans Manon, who’s on hiatus from the group — is set to drop Aug. 14. Following their stay in Vegas, the members of BTS will continue their AIRIRANG trek in South Korea with two shows in Busan.
