STAYC famously did not have handphones until after their first win. According to the girls, things got so uncomfortable without handphones that they could not even go to the washroom freely. As rookies, they were upset about not being able to do even that due to the lack of communication tools. They were only given their devices back after winning first place.
During a recent live stream, the girls shared that as they did not have handphones, they could not leave the waiting room as they would not be contactable in case any issue arose. They could only go to the washroom all together with their manager. If their manager was not around, they would have to wait until the manager returned.
We didn’t have handphones, so when the manager leaves the waiting room, it’s just us left and we couldn’t go to the bathroom. If the manager wasn’t there, we couldn’t go. We’re not even lying, but we couldn’t even go to the bathroom even if it was just opposite the corridor, right in front of the waiting room. Even if the corridor was just as wide as a table. We would have to ask the other staff to contact our manager for us. That was really hard. Then we came out with “ASAP” and got first place with “STEREOTYPE” and [we got phones.]
— STAYC
Now that they are successful artists, the members all have their own devices and life has gotten much easier! You can watch their live stream below.
