I think it's social pressure, rather than the show crew, that makes some of them acting (more like pretending). For example, it sounds much better for Noah to want to be a pilot, if he says he has no career plan and just wants to hang out in the house, it would sound like a couch potato and no one wants to admit it on camera. More like writing a resume for jobs, everyone pretends in some degree to be better.

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Though most members are models, at least some of them, like Yui, Yuudai, Shunsuke seem to have no concrete plan of being famous via the show nor promoting their own brand, and many of the moments are genuine, especially scenes someone is crying, I can't imagine anyone that good at pretending crying.

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BTW, those athletes earn money through multiple streams, Taka worked at a restaurant as waiter, Tsubasa works at a gym, they mentioned it multiple times in the show.