Yuan Meiyu (Korean: 원미우; Chinese: 袁美宇) is a Chinese singer and actress under Jewel Entertainment. She's a member of INTERSTELLAR and a former member of the Chinese girl group SNH48.
Early Life[]
Yuan Meiyu was born in Shanghai, China, on June 18, 2001. Although her parents' names and details remain private, Meiyu has shared that she has a younger sibling who is currently studying abroad, which limits their time together.
Meiyu grew up in an affluent environment. While she tends to keep her private life largely out of the public eye, she has revealed that she attended only the most prestigious private schools in the wealthier districts of Shanghai. Prior to joining SNH48, Meiyu also studied at a renowned Swiss international school in St. Gallen.
The reasons for her return to China remain unclear, but she has mentioned that it was due to family issues. Despite not initially aspiring to become an idol, Meiyu discovered that joining SNH48, the Chinese sister group of AKB48, could serve as a springboard for her acting career.
During the SNH48 6th generation auditions, Meiyu quickly stood out as a promising candidate. Reflecting on her experience, she confidently remarked, "There was no way they would pass up on me."
Career[]
2016-2020: SNH48[]
On January 16, 2016, Meiyu joined SNH48 as a trainee. 3 months later, on April 4, 2016, she was promoted to Team NII as an official member.
On May 20, 2016, she made her music debut with the EP Dream Land, where she was included in the b-side "La La La."
On October 12, 2016, she made her main track center debut with the EP Princess's Cloak.
On December 18, 2019, Meiyu announced her graduation from SNH48. She officially graduated on March 20, 2020 after holding a farewell performance at the SNH48 theatre.
2021-2023: Acting debut[]
On November 22, 2021, she made her acting debut in the Chinese drama, Rebirth for You. The drama quickly became a hit in Mainland China and Taiwan, landing her various other roles over the coming years.
2024-Present: Debut in INTERSTELLAR, Feature on "Mi Amor"[]
She was announced to be joining INTERSTELLAR on August 10, 2024.
On May 10, 2025, Snowbaby released her debut solo album, Touch Body, which included a collaboration with Meiyu titled "Mi Amor". Snowbaby later revealed that the song was originally meant to be INTERSTELLAR-NS's debut single.
Discography[]
Features[]
Snowbaby - "Mi Amor" (2025)
Personal life[]
Personality[]
Yuan Meiyu is confident, outspoken, and unapologetically bold. She carries herself with an air of sophistication, likely influenced by her affluent upbringing and elite education. Meiyu’s confidence fuels her ambition, she will never be seen doubting her ability to stand out and achieve her goals, even in such a competitive industry. She’s sharp-witted and quick to speak her mind, often making controversial remarks that spark discussion but solidify her image as someone unafraid to challenge norms. While her directness and self-assured nature earn her admiration from fans who appreciate her authenticity, they also lead to friction with others, as she can come across as arrogant or dismissive. Meiyu also values independence and has little patience for what she sees as mediocrity or inefficiency. She is fiercely protective of her reputation and opinion, and isn’t afraid to stand her ground, even against powerful entities, demonstrating fearlessness.
Meiyu has a deep love for all things feminine, often surrounding herself with beauty, luxury, and elegance. She finds joy in indulging in hyper-feminine activities like fashion, makeup, and self-care rituals, which only enhance her already glamorous persona. Meiyu vows to never be seen looking unperfect, she often carries around a full makeup kit in her bag and is always ready to glam up. She is even often found helping those around her freshen up; Meiyu may be cold, but femininity is the way to get through to her. Meiyu loves being a woman, and it shows in her love for pink, makeup, fashion, and etc.
Despite her cold and tough exterior, Meiyu has a deep loyalty to those she truly cares about, even if she doesn’t always show it openly. She often gets embarrassed or upset when her members bring it up, but she is actually a kind person once you look beyond her tough facade. Though she can be undeniably rude at times, she knows her worth—and the worth of those around her—and will do a lot to protect the peace of herself and her friends. Her complex personality makes her polarizing, but undeniably captivating.
Friends[]
- INTERSTELLAR: In the past, Meiyu stated that she had never in her wildest nightmares imagined herself in the K-pop industry, but that now she actually quite enjoys it. She credits her enjoyment to her members, who she described as wonderful. She's known for often criticizing the girls, and treating them coldly, but she stated that that is just how she is. Despite her cold ways of treating the others, she said she sees her members as the sisters she never had, or wanted. Meiyu feels as if the girls have significantly positively affected her life and attitude. She may shade her members ever other day, but if anyone else is to do so, they will feel her wrath. Her personality in general makes it difficult for her to build genuine connections due to how outspoken she is, but the members of INTERSTELLAR understand her, and love her mutually. Her way of showing love may be strange, but that is just her.
- Pristine: Meiyu and Pristine quickly bonded over the fact that they were both members of international 48 girl groups. Aside from this similarity in their pasts, the two actually share a lot of the same characteristics. Both Meiyu and Pristine are outspoken, they refuse to be silenced and are determined to speaking their minds. The women have both been caught in many controversies, but they continue to rise more and more. They strangely bond due to their immense number of controversies, but their fans find it endearing. Meiyu and Pristine can often be seen going out, shopping, eating, and just in general doing things together. They love to engage in feminine activities like going fashion shopping, doing each others nails, baking, flower arranging, reading Colleen Hoover books, going on spa dates, and anything else they can find. The two often share their little girls trips on their public Instagram accounts. Fans even dubbed them as the "Diamond Girls" due to their expensive and feminine tastes.
Enemies[]
(Some of these are not "enemies" per se, but simply people she has had negative public interactions with.)
- Ivan: Ivan and Meiyu certainly do not HATE each other, but they retain bad blood for each other from Meiyu's comments about him. She stated that Ivan was "some random white guy," and that she did not want to collaborate with him but rather with Kim Jaewoon of XOLAS.
- Bailey: Meiyu contributed to spreading rumors about Bailey—which she still insists are facts—which angered him, his management, and his fans. She has stated that she is not remorseful and that she believes, if anything, Bailey should get his act together instead of getting mad at her for speaking facts.
- Blair Music: The agency of Bailey, Meiyu upset them with the statement about Bailey, but it does not stop there. Upon their statement addressing the situation being released, Meiyu responded. She implied that Blair Music was a bad company, and that she is not afraid of them. The badmouthing of the company, paired with the defamation of their artist, only fueled the flames between them even more.
- Men: Although Meiyu did not explicitly state that she hates men—and she has actually admitted to admiring many men in the past—she still added heat to the already boiling pot of rumors about her. Her statement of rather throwing herself out of a window than being a man caused a hell of a controversy. And with Meiyu's refusal to apologize, many men have developed a dislike for her. She did go on to state that she just simply enjoys being a woman, but that was not enough for many.
- Chloe: The DREAMSCAPE member has never spoken about Meiyu, however, Meiyu expressed her distaste for the girl. She referred to the other as annoying and even went to the lengths of praying to never have to work with her ever again
- Xavier Luna: Meiyu claimed Luna's song, "Antiretro", was originally meant for INTERSTELLAR, but that he suddenly revoked the rights to the song from the group. The two had a back-and-forth before the arguing eventually stopped.
Controversies[]
Lack of knowledge on K-pop[]
During an interview on August 12, 2024, 2 days after Meiyu joined the group, INTERSTELLAR members were asked to play a game in which they'd be given a song and would have to make their other members try to guess what it was based on the choreographies. When Yuan Meiyu's turn came, she looked at the camera with a confused face, asking who the artists she was being given were. Some artists she stated to not know included Ivan, AIDYLLIC, CELOSIA, DEC, FANC:Y, BEAUDENT, and even INTERSTELLAR's own seniors, Good Guy. K-Netizens were baffled at how she was not even aware of popular artists in the industry, but wanted to make her debut.
Badmouthing Ivan[]
Amongst the excitement from fans for INTERSTELLAR's first comeback with their new lineup, "Chocolate Cream," a scandal broke out on August 18, 2024. A Twitter user who goes by the name @ivancanhaveme leaked a video in which Meiyu is heard speaking badly of Ivan, the artist featuring on the title song, and the group's company to a staff member in Mandarin.
| “ |
Ivan..? Who even is this? I said I wanted Kim Jaewoon from XOLAS, not some random white guy. Did you even try? I shouldn't have even gotten my expectations high based on where your company has gotten this group so far. I can't believe Xuezi (Snowbaby) hasn't left yet. |
” |
| —Yuan Meiyu, 2024 | ||
Ignoring Snowbaby[]
On November 14, 2024 it was reported that INTERSTELLAR member, Snowbaby’s phone was stolen by a sasaeng fan. Later it was revealed that the sasaeng attempted to call Yuan Meiyu with Snowbaby’s phone multiple times, but his calls were ignored. He then called her on his own device and she picked up almost immediately. Fans theorized that the two members had bad relations and that Meiyu would often ignore her. Jewel Entertainment never addressed the situation.
Calling out Bailey[]
On November 17, 2024, during an interview with a Hong Kong news station, Meiyu was asked about her relations with other idols. The reporter stated that she was aware that Meiyu is a fan of Kim Jaewoon and asked her her opinion on the rest of XOLAS.
| “ |
"Oh I'm just a fan of Kim Jaewoon, I don't think XOLAS have that much to offer and they're too young. And one member.. I can't even remember his name.. I think Bale? Haybale? Oh Bailey, yes Bailey. I've often heard him flirting with multiple different people backstage, and I'm sure he already has a partner. Is this an idol? Someone children should look up to? Someone who encourages infidelity? Where is the prudence..?" |
” |
| —Yuan Meiyu, 2024 | ||
On November 18, 2024, Blair Music, the label of Bailey, addressed Meiyu's comments from November 17 and threatened legal pursuit. Meiyu responded to their claims on her Instagram live.
| “ |
"Threatening legal action instead of fixing your artists ways is CRAZY... And suing me... Wouldn't that prove me right? Go ahead, I'll pay up, but so will your artist. I have been in this industry for 8 years, and have been sued multiple times, but what I won't be losing is my reputation. And along with that, shouldn't your money be going towards helping your groups chart? These companies crack me up." |
” |
| —Yuan Meiyu, 2024 | ||
Hating men[]
On November 29, 2024, during a variety show interview, Yuan Meiyu was asked what she would do if she turned into a boy for one day. She simply answered that she would not, but the host insisted, saying that she would have no choice on the matter. She replied, side-eying the host.
| “ |
I would not turn into a boy, ever, and if I were to wake up in a male body, I would defenestrate myself. Is that the answer you were looking for? |
” |
| —Yuan Meiyu, 2024 | ||
Insulting Chloe[]
On January 6, 2025, INTERSTELLAR were attending a variety show in Shanghai. Everything was going fine until the group was asked if they had any bad blood with any other artists. 3 out of 4 members avoided the question, but Meiyu answered with her chest. Her statement was as follows:
| “ |
Oh I have many, but recently I've grown to dislike the girl group member, Chloe; her group is DREAMSCAPE but they're not very popular so I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't know her. To continue, I just believe she's such a headache, I had to attend a promotion with her and her voice almost made my poor eardrums burst. God forbid I ever have to encounter that girl ever again |
” |
| —Yuan Meiyu, 2025 | ||
"Antiretro" drama[]
On May 2, 2025, Meiyu made a controversial statement on her Douyin live, which quickly got shared around other social media platforms and caused quite the stir. Xavier Luna and Chae Dahee have both responded to her. However, Meiyu made an official statement, claiming that she would no longer be giving the situation any more of her time. Her livestream statement went as is.
| “ |
Our company showed us the demo and claimed it was a potential option for our next title song. However, as soon as we were going to start recording the track, all of a sudden, we no longer had the rights to the song. I honestly wasn't surprised, I disagreed with buying a song from a man in the first place. |
” |
| —Yuan Meiyu, 2025 | ||
Anger over Snowbaby's solo debut[]
On May 10, 2025, a netizen's video edit of Yuan Meiyu complaining about Snowbaby's solo debut on a livestream went viral. In the livestream, Yuan Meiyu claimed that INTERSTELLAR's label, Jewel Entertainment, told her that she would be unable to do any solo activities due to a lack of funds. Upon seeing her member's studio album announcement, Meiyu realized that this was because a majority of the company's funds went to Snowbaby's debut. Fans were mixed, while many understood her, they also felt that her response towards her own groupmate was unprofessional and unneeded.
Filmography[]
Movies[]
- Catman (2022)
Dramas[]
- Rebirth for You (iQIYI, 2021)
- The Legend of White Snake (iQIYI, 2022)
- Beauty of Resilience (iQIYI, 2023)
- Sword and Fairy 4 (iQIYI, 2023)
- In Blossom (Youku, 2024)
Awards and nominations[]
| Year | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| HKRT Year End Awards 2024 | |||
| 2024 | Best Female Visual | Yuan Meiyu | Won |
Trivia[]
- Role Model: Marilyn Monroe
- Nicknames: Miu, Michan, Meimei
- Languages: Mandarin, Shanghainese, French, English
- She is Han Chinese.
- Her name means beautiful universe.
- Her favorite food is almond tofu.
- Her favorite color is pink.
- Her favorite vacation spot is Nice, France.
- She wants to act in a K-Drama someday.
- She enjoys Colleen Hoover books.
- Her favorite songs are "Material Girl" by Madonna, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, and "J'aime la vie" by Sandra Kim.
- Meiyu was personally invited by Snowbaby to join INTERSTELLAR.
