Why Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has abandoned his quest to find a girlfriend to take to the moon
Despite over 27,000 applications, Zozo’s Yusaku Maezawa abandons his reality TV hunt for a girlfriend to join him on a SpaceX lunar mission
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has called off the search for a girlfriend to take to the moon.
To think that 27,722 women, with earnest intentions and courage, had used their precious time to apply makes me feel extremely remorseful
In September 2018 Elon Musk’s space exploration company SpaceX announced that Maezawa was the first commercial passenger to book tickets on-board its Starship rocket (then called the Big Falcon Rocket) expected to go around the moon in 2023.
Earlier in January, Maezawa announced he was looking for a romantic “female partner” to come to the moon with him and be his lifelong companion, and that he would find her via the medium of a reality television show competition called Full Moon Lovers, to be made by Japanese streaming service Abema TV.
The TV show received more than 20,000 applicants, but on Thursday the billionaire announced his decision to back out of the show. Maezawa didn’t give a detailed explanation, only that he had mixed feelings about the whole process.
I understand that I have disappointed many people and I apologise to everyone for my unfavourable actions
Here is his statement in full:
“Due to personal reasons, I have informed AbemaTV yesterday with my decision to no longer participate in the matchmaking documentary. Despite my genuine and honest determination toward the show, there was a part of me that still had mixed feelings about my participation. To think that 27,722 women, with earnest intentions and courage, had used their precious time to apply makes me feel extremely remorseful to conclude and inform everyone with this selfish decision of mine. I understand that I have disappointed many people – the applicants and all the staff from AbemaTV who were involved in the production – and I apologise to everyone for my unfavourable actions.
“I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart.”
In a letter on the application site, Maezawa said he initially had feelings of “embarrassment and pride” when approached about the programme.