Originally Posted by
beansprouts
Most fans would rather their idols not have girlfriends, I'm sure that's not hard to understand. Coming out and admitting it would mean putting their idol status at stake, fans would be upset and there will be backlash of some sort. Not everybody can be like Kimutaku and get away with marriage and kids - come to think of it, his popularity is nowhere near what it was before.
The JE folks can't be idols forever, one fine day they are going to fade into the background, if they are good enough, perhaps they can gain a strong foothold in the entertainment industry and hang around like SMAP. If not, it's back to civilian lives for them, they got to give their all and stay popular for as long as possible. Annoucing that they've a girlfriend is career suicide for them, why shorten a career that's already very short?
Moreoever JE is not exactly a girlfriend friendly company. Takki suffered quite a bit when his relationship with Suzuki Ami hit the tabloids a few years ago, he was put in cold storage for a while.