Adéla has reflected on her experience competing on The Debut: Dream Academy, which was later documented in Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE, pushing back against the idea that the contestants were primarily rivals. She was one of the young women hoping to secure a place in the group, alongside participants who were also chasing the same dream.
Speaking to Zane Lowe, the 'Nicole Kidman' singer revealed that the biggest tension was not necessarily between the girls. Adéla also had some blunt words about the people making decisions behind the scenes.
Adéla Reflects on Competition
In an interview, Lowe asked Adéla how she navigated competing with people her own age while knowing that only a small number would ultimately make the group. He compared the format to The Hunger Games, highlighting the strange expectation placed on young performers to compete against each other while still being expected to smile, form friendships and support one another.
Adéla said her experience challenged the idea that young women would automatically be each other's biggest rivals.
'Everybody assumes that the girls and the peers would have the worst kind of interactions and the biggest competition,' she said. 'But I found that there's like girls, especially young girls, we really held together and we had each other's backs,' the singer explained.
Adéla also suggested that the documentary did not always reflect how events played out behind the scenes. 'I think we were portrayed differently than how things actually went down,' she said, adding that entertainment value played a role in how the story was presented.
She then turned her attention to those in positions of power.
Looking at the people with authority over the competition, Adéla said: 'On the opposite side of the spectrum... People in power are the ones that just f*ck with you. They just f*ck sh*t up.'
The Race for KATSEYE
Adéla was one of 20 contestants selected from more than 120,000 applications and submissions for the HYBE and Geffen Records project that eventually created KATSEYE. The aspiring performers went through intensive singing and dancing training before facing missions and evaluations to determine who would make the final group.
At 19, Adéla was one of the younger contestants and represented Slovakia. She also brought a strong dance background to the competition, having trained in ballet from a very young age.
She ultimately did not make the final six-member KATSEYE line-up. Daniela, Manon, Lara, Megan, Sophia and Yoonchae were selected for the group.
Adéla Pursues Solo Career
Not making KATSEYE did not end Adéla's pop career. Instead, she continued building her own identity as a solo artist.
She released her debut single 'Homewrecked' in 2024 and later followed it with The Provocateur EP. Her music career has since continued to move forward independently of the group she once competed to join.
Her ballet background remains part of that identity, too. Her debut album, PRIMA, takes its name from the ballet term 'prima ballerina', connecting her earlier training with her life as a pop performer.
Now performing as a solo artist, Adéla has a chance to shape her career on her own terms. Her time on Pop Star Academy may have introduced her to a huge audience, but it is no longer the only chapter of her story.
