Nancy

Biography

Nancy Jewel McDonie (born April 13, 2000), known professionally as Nancy (Korean: 낸시), is a South Korean and American singer, actress, and host. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Momoland, which was formed on November 10, 2016, through the Mnet's reality survival show Finding Momoland.

Early life

Nancy was born on April 13, 2000, in Nam District, Daegu, South Korea. In 2001, the family moved to her American father's hometown of Columbus, Ohio, where Nancy spent her early years and attended school. In an interview about her being of mixed origin and the product of two cultures Nancy said, "I have always been told by my parents that there are two cultures that I am in contact with ever since I was a child."
On March 20, 2019, it was reported that Nancy changed her Korean legal name to Lee Geu-roo from Lee Seung-ri.

Education

She graduated from Hanlim Multi Art School on February 9, 2018, where she was a student in the Musical Department.

Pre-debut

Nancy auditioned in Korea's Got Talent as part of a hip-hop group called "Cutie Pies" in 2011. The group reached the semi-finals.
As a teenager, she appeared in several TV programs, including The Unlimited, and also participated in Mak Ee Rae Show: Just Do It Expedition in 2012, in which she traveled to the Philippines and Saipan with South Korean actress Kim You-jung.

2016: Finding Momoland, debut with Momoland, and Sunny Girls

In 2016, Nancy became a contestant on Mnet's reality survival show Finding Momoland to select the members of MLD Entertainment's new girl group Momoland. She finished the competition in first place, and had her debut with the group on November 10, 2016, with the mini-album Welcome to Momoland. Momoland made their debut stage performing at M Countdown.
On November 19, 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's Nayoung. They made their official debut at SBS's Inkigayo stage, on November 27, with the title track "Taxi". The group also performed at the 2016 SBS Gayo Daejeon on December 26.

2017–2024

In 2017, Nancy was cast in the lead role with boy band ZE:A member Ha Min-woo in Naver TV's web music drama series Some Light. Nancy and Ha Min-woo also collaborated for the theme song of the drama series.

Nancy was selected to host the music show The Power of K alongside U-Kwon and Shownu. The show began airing in Japan and Korea in January 2018.
On January 3, 2018, Momoland released their third mini-album, Great!. As a result, the lead single, "Bboom Bboom", was a huge commercial success, reaching number two on the Gaon Digital Chart. On June 26, 2018, Momoland released their fourth mini-album Fun to the World with the lead single "Baam" becoming the 15th best-selling song of July 2018 on Gaon Music Chart.
In October 2018, Nancy appeared in episode 11 of MBC's Dae Jang Geum Is Watching, alongside her fellow-members JooE, Hyebin and Daisy as idol trainees.
On January 27, 2023, it was announced that Nancy, along with the Momoland members, departed from MLD Entertainment following expiration of the contracts. Momoland officially announced their disbandment on February 14. On March 4, Nancy announced that she signed a contract with Aria Diamond, a newly established talent agency affiliated with Aria Group, through her personal Instagram account. On September 17, Nancy revealed via Instagram that she is no longer an artist under Aria Group. On September 21, it was confirmed that Nancy has signed an exclusive contract with ATOC.

2024–present

On April 1, 2024, Nancy signed with GMA Network's talent agency Sparkle. In October 2025, Nancy was cast in a K-pop-inspired thriller film, Perfect Girl, which was directed by Hong Won-ki of Zanybros and co-stars Adeleine Rudolph, Arden Cho, and Jeon Somi, marking her film debut.

Endorsements

In January 2020, Nancy was chosen as the new endorsement model for the popular skincare brand Some By Mi.

Personal life

In 2021, photos of Nancy undressing, which was secretly taken by a staff member backstage at the 2019 Asia Artist Awards in Vietnam, began circulating online. Nancy's then agency, MLD Entertainment, stated that the incident had left her "mentally distressed" and announced that they would file criminal and civil lawsuits against those who secretly filmed her and those who distributed the photos. The Asia Artist Awards Organizing Committee issued apology to Nancy and accepted responsibility for the incident, stating, "We will continue to cooperate with Nancy's agency, MLD Entertainment, and closely monitor the situation." The incident sparked debates about voyeurism in South Korea and sexual objectification in the K-pop industry.