Manaka Shida, a former member of the idol group "Keyakizaka46", appeared on the February 14th episode of Abema's variety show "Damatterenai Onnatachi" (Fridays at 10pm). After graduating from Keyakizaka46, Shida announced that she had become a hostess at a cabaret club. On this day, the show followed Shida, who has become a "top hostess" with an annual income of over 100 million yen at the high-class cabaret club in Ginza, Tokyo where she works, serving customers, and her visit to her hometown of Niigata.
After finishing her work at the cabaret club, Shida headed out for drinks with a colleague and the conversation turned to romance. "I won't have a boyfriend until I'm 30," Shida said. "I had a long-term relationship with someone, and I liked his face, but I got really bored of him," she said. "People get bored... but when I think about it, it's really impossible. I'm sure I'll cheat (laughs)." She revealed her view on romance.
Shida, who drinks five to six days a week, confessed, "I hate being alone at night. If I don't have plans to drink, I have nothing to do, so I feel very anxious." The reason for this became clear when she returned to her hometown. Her parents divorced when she was young, and her mother, who raised Shida and her sister alone, ran a snack bar at the time. "I was lonely because my mother was away working at night. When I became a junior high school student, my sister also disappeared at night," she said, looking back on her childhood, and added, "I don't like spending the night alone."
She also confessed why she decided to retire from being an idol. "It wasn't just support, I had no privacy," she recalled. "I'd made it public on TV that I lived in a dorm, so people found out where I lived very quickly. It was a daily occurrence for people to wait for me at the nearest station, or to be in front of my house." She said, "Once I became an idol, I didn't have the feeling that I was a celebrity, and I couldn't keep up with the excitement of the people around me," revealing how the sudden change in environment left her both physically and mentally exhausted.
Shida-san started a new life in the world of nightlife. "No matter what job I did, my family supported me. If I earned money, my family could relax," she said, explaining why she started hostessing at a cabaret club. She also revealed that her current income is more than 10 times what it was when she was an idol.
The second half of the program focused on the lovey-dovey life of a couple with a 21-year age gap between the wife, 53, and the husband, 32. The show is available for free streaming on ABEMA until the 21st.
