Nancy is a South Korean-American singer, actress, and TV host. She is known for being a Maknae (youngest m of the South Korean girl group Momoland.
Wiki/Biography
Nancy Jewel McDonie was born on Thursday, April 13, 2000 (age 21 years; as of 2021), in Nam-gu, Daegu, South Korea. Her Korean name is Lee Seung-ri. Later, in a 2020 interview with Mnet, she announced that her Korean name was Lee Geu-roo (Geu-loo or Geu-ru). She grew up in Columbus, Ohio, United States. Her zodiac sign is Aries.
A childhood picture of Nancy with her elder sister
She did her elementary schooling at Wolbae Elementary School, Daegu, and Hyoja Elementary School, Pohang. Because her father was in the US army, she left South Korea at the age of two; she stayed for a few months in Dublin, Ireland, and then moved with her family to Ohio. After living in the US for six years, she returned to South Korea in 2009. In 2018, she did her high school graduation in music from Hanlim Multi Art School, Seoul, South Korea.
Nancy with fellow Momoland member during her graduation ceremony at Hanlim Multi Art School, Seoul
She graduated with a Majors in Media and Visual Acting at Sungshin Women’s University, Seoul.
Physical Appearance
Height: 5’ 3.65” (162 cm)
Eye Color: Brown (she also wears contact lenses of various colors)
Hair Color: Being a Kpop Idol, Nancy changes her hair color frequently. However, her actual hair is Black.
Family & Ethnicity
She is of South Korean and Irish origins. Her father, Richard Lee McDonie, is an American and a retired lieutenant colonel in the US Army. Her mother’s name is Lee Myung-joo, who is a South Korean. Her father was in the military service in Daegu and fell in love with her mother who served the unit at that time.
Nancy as a child with her family
Nancy’s parents
She has an older sister named Brenda Jowel McDonie (Cellist).
Nancy with her sister
Career
Agency
Korean Reality Shows
In 2010, she made her television debut as a child artist in the TV show ‘Hangul Train Chipo,’ which aired on EBS.
Nancy in Hangul Train Chipo (2012)
She then appeared in 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 called themselves Cutie Pies.
Nancy (second from left) as a part of Cutie Pies
In 2011, she auditioned as a 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 in Tooniverse’s 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 was a contestant in the singing reality show ‘King of Mask Singer’ in the 143rd Generation of Mask King.
Nancy in King of Mask Singer (2020)
Momoland
In 2016, Mnet launched a reality survival show ‘Finding Momoland’ produced by MLD Entertainment. The show featured teen 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 with other participants of Finding Momoland (2016)
Talking about her experience from the show, Nancy said,
It was tremendously trembling. It’s a regrettable part, but it’s an honor to be the 4th appearance after the members. Because I was working as a team called ‘Momoland’, I had a fright when I stood on the stage alone. I wanted to overcome the stage fright within this year.”
Momoland had to wait for their debut because they failed to complete their last mission to gather 3000 people for their concert on the show. However, they continued with their training at MLD and attended music festivals and school concerts, managing to crowdfund their debut album. Momoland made its debut on November 10, 2016, with the mini-album ‘Welcome to Momoland.’
The same day, they made their stage debut in the music television program M Countdown with their single ‘Welcome to Momoland’ and lead single ‘Jjan! Koong! Kwang!’
After two more members joined the group, Momoland released its first single album ‘Wonderful Love’ in 2016 with a single of the same name.
Momoland released its second EP ‘Freeze!’ in 2017. In June 2018, Momoland released its third album ‘Great!’ with its lead single ‘Bboom Bboom,’ which became a huge commercial success and peaked at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart.
The group then released other 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 lead singles like Baam, I’m So Hot, and Starry Night. In 2019, Momoland released its first Japanese album ‘Chiri Chiri.’ The album featured 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.
Nancy and her group’s triumph not only in Korea but also in the Philippines. They have performed in the countries like Japan, the United States, Vietnam, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and Mexico.
Acting
In 2017, she made her acting debut in the Naver series ‘Some Light’ in the main role of ‘Nancy.’
In 2018, she made a cameo appearance as an idol trainee 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.’ The series was produced by ABS-CBN and Dreamscape Entertainment.
Other Works
In 2016, while Momoland was about to make its debut, Nancy appeared in South Korean singer MC Gree’s ‘Dangerous’ music video and comeback stage.
On November 19, 2016, it was announced that she would join Inkigayo’s project girl group ‘Sunny Girls,’ along with GFriend’s Eunha, WJSN’s Cheng Xiao, Oh My Girl’s YooA, and Gugudan. They made their official debut at 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 televised music festival SBS Gayo Daejeon. She sang the title song of “Some Light’ (2017), the Kdrama in which she starred, with Ha Min-woo of the Kpop boyband ZE:A. From March 2017 to June 2018, she hosted the TV show ‘Pops in Seoul’ on Arirang TV. The show presents current music, news about K-pop culture, and provides overseas viewers with the latest Korean pop music and information.
Nancy in Pops in Seoul (2017-2018)
In 2018, Momoland released its own show ‘Momoland’s Saipan Land’ in which Momoland travels to Saipan, where they were given an opportunity to do whatever they want for 48 hours. The show was telecast 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 and 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 came second in the 4 × 100 m relay and won a silver medal. Momoland participated in 2019 too but did not win in any competition. In 2020, Momoland participated in the event again and came second in Ssirem/Korean wrestling, and they won silver medal.
Momoland during Idol Star Athletics Championship
Awards (As a Part of Momoland)
Prominent Awards
- Gaon Chart Music Awards – World K-Pop Rookie in 2018
Momoland with their Gaon Chart Music Award
- Genie Music Awards for The Performing Artist – Female for the song ‘Boom Boom’ in 2018
Momoland with their 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 (MAMA)
- Golden Disc Awards – Digital Bonsang for the song ‘Boom Boom’ in 2019
Momoland giving their award acceptance speech for Golden Disc Award
- Japan Gold Disc Award for Best 3 New Artist (Asia) in 2019
- Seoul Music Awards – Bonsang Award in 2019
Momoland with their Seoul Music Award
- Soribada Best K-Music Awards – Bonsang Award in 2019
Momoland giving their acceptance speech for Soribada Best K-Music Award
- Korean Arts and Culture Awards – Korean Wave Idol Award in 2021
Asia Artist Awards
- Rising Star Award in 2017
Momoland giving their award acceptance speech for Asia Artist Award
- Best Icon Award – Music in 2018
Other Awards
- Asia Model Awards – New Star Singer in 2017
Momoland with their Asia Model Award
- Korea-China Management Awards – Asia Rising Star in 2017
- Korean Culture Entertainment Awards – 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 was once attacked by netizens for making fun of bulimia, an eating disorder. In her defense, she said that she was joking about it as a coping mechanism as she has suffered from the same in the past.
- In November 2018, Momoland was criticized by Army (BTS’s fandom) for being disrespectful towards the boyband BTS at MGA (MBC Plus X Genie Music Awards). Army’s accused Momoland of laughing at BTS’s Jimin’s vocal during their ‘Fake Love’ performance and not bowing to them while they were passing by, which is considered disrespectful in South Korea. The Armys were angry and flooded Momoland’s accounts on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube with angry messages.
- In 2018, Momoland was embroiled in Sajaegi (chart manipulation) controversy when their album ‘Great!’ sold over 8000 copies in just one day. Their sudden increase in sales aroused suspicions of the netizens who first reported it. Later, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, South Korea, cleared Momoland of Sajaegi accusations.
- In 2018, Nancy was criticized by Blackpink fandom Blinks for staring blankly at Blackpink while they were presenting their winning speech for their song ‘DDU-DU DDU-DU’ at MBC’s Show Champion. Blinks and netizens condemned Nancy for being ill-mannered.
- In January 2021, a person took Nancy’s pictures illegally and manipulated them. The pictures went viral on the internet, bringing harm to the image of Nancy. Following the incident, Nancy’s agency released a statement, saying,
Nancy is a victim of having photos being inappropriately taken and manipulated. The person that should be protected first and foremost is Nancy. We ask for your cooperation with a heavy heart. We will follow through with our legal actions with no leniency and without reaching a settlement. Nancy is currently undergoing severe emotional turmoil. We sincerely ask of you: We long for an end to malicious posts that harass our artist. We want to express our gratitude to fans who always love and support our artists. We will continue to do our best in ensuring our artists’ personal and given rights.”
Favorite Things
- Color(s): Burgundy, Pink, Black
- Food: Food with Cheese, Mint Chocolate, Malatang, Hot pot, Sushi, Tteokbokki
- Singer: Sowon (of GFriend)
- Travel Destination(s): Paris, Boracay
Facts/Trivia
- In her spare time, she like doing makeup, nail art, play Nintendo games, travel, shop, watch American dramas, and sing Disney songs. During COVID lockdown in South Korea, she developed a hobby of diamond painting.
- 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 from the United States, she had a hard time blending in with the environment. Her mother always teased her about the differences between US and South Korean culture, which scared her. After she transferred to a South Korean school, she couldn’t speak Korean well, but she didn’t face many difficulties because her friends helped her.
- She is well versed in Korean and English and can also speak a little Japanese.
- She loves elephants and unicorns. She often buys stuff toys or items that feature elephants and unicorns.
- Momoland’s fandom is known as Merry-Go-Rounds.
- If not a performer, Nancy would have been a cellist like her sister, Brenda. In an interview, she said that her sister went to a school doing cello, so, she played cello too. She stopped because she wanted to sing and dance. According to her,
If I didn’t, I would probably be doing the same thing.”
- Momoland has done a lot of philanthropic activities. The group held a concert in South Korea, where they donated the ticket sales to children injured by car accidents in school zones. In April 2018, they did a charity concert to benefit the 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 organized their first charity concert in the Philippines. All the earnings from their concert were donated to the children of two barangays in Antipolo City: Barangay San Jose and Barangay Calawis. Clothes and other necessities were also distributed to the children after the concert.
- Nancy’s fans have often said that Nancy and Filipina-American actress Liza Soberano were lookalikes. During a Facebook Live session with Ahin and Daisy from Momoland in April 2018, Nancy searched for pics of Liza on the internet to see what her fans were talking about. Nancy was stunned and said that Liza looked like Ariana Grande. A year later, in 2019, Nancy and Liza finally met and posed together for a picture. Nancy uploaded the picture on her social media accounts and captioned the post,
Nice meeting you Liza.”
Nancy with Liza Soberano
- In January 2020, Nancy was appointed as the brand ambassador of the popular skincare brand Some By Mi. A Some By Mi representative said that they chose Nancy because,
Her healthy and pure image fit well with the direction that we pursue, of our clean, natural skincare products.”
Nancy in an advertisement for Some By Mi
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education