When the finale of Mnet survival competition Girls Planet 999 aired on October 22, 2021, it created a new nine-member project girl group, Kep1er, with six members from South Korea, two members from Japan, and one member from China. The members’ final rankings in the series were as follows: (9) Xiaoting, (8) Mashiro, (7) Hikaru, (6) Yeseo, (5) Youngeun, (4) Dayeon, (3) Yujin, (2) Huening Bahiyyih, (1) Chaehyun. After that, managing company WAKEONE didn’t waste time in debuting the group, though there was one hiccup along the way. So here is the complete answer as to when Yujin, Xiaoting, Mashiro, Chaehyun, Dayeon, Hikaru, Huening Bahiyyih, Youngeun, and Yeseo made their debut as Kep1er.

Kep1er Debuted on January 3, 2022 with First Impact and the Song “WA DA DA”

Kep1er made their official debut on January 3, 2022 with the mini-album First Impact and the lead single “WA DA DA,” which received a music video on the same day. First Impact contains six songs in total: “See The Light,” “WA DA DA,” “MVSK,” “Shine (Kep1er Ver.),” “Another Dream (Kep1er Ver.),” and “O.O.O (Over&Over&Over) (Kep1er Ver.).” The latter three songs were originally featured on Girls Planet 999 but re-recorded with the final Kep1er lineup. “WA DA DA” was composed by PRISMFILTER’s BuildingOwner and Elum, Shannon, danke, 황유빈 (Hwang Yubin), ODAL PARK, 이스란 (Lee Seuran), and KAKO.

On the day of their debut, the group held a Kep1er DEBUT SHOW through Mnet, which contained several entertainment segments and featured performances of “Shine,” “MVSK,” and “WA DA DA.” Soon afterward, Kep1er earned their first music show win on January 13, 2022, with “WA DA DA” on M Countdown. Since then, Kep1er have gone on to enjoy several comebacks, and the members are scheduled to perform together as a project group for 2.5 years in total (barring a contract extension, which is also a possibility).

However, it is worth noting that the group was originally supposed to debut on December 14, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. KST. On December 5, 2021, their debut was delayed to January 3, 2022 out of an abundance of caution when a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. Indeed, on December 14, 2021, WAKEONE announced that Xiaoting and Mashiro had tested positive for COVID-19. Of course, everyone involved ultimately recovered, but Kep1er members would catch COVID again at various points in the future.

In summary, Kep1er made their debut on January 3, 2022 with First Impact and “WA DA DA,” but they would have debuted half a month sooner if not for a delay for COVID. Their contracts currently stipulate that they will perform together for 2.5 years in total. For more about the group, check out how old the Kep1er members currently are and the unique answer to who their leader is.

For Kep1er’s little brother group created through the survival competition Boys Planet, check out when it was that Zerobaseone made their highly anticipated debut.