Japanese “talent” Becky, who has been on an enforced leave from the Japanese show business world since the end of January due to her affair with musician Enon Kawatani, is expected to return to work as early as the end of May. The scandal is finally coming to a close following Kawatani’s recently announced divorce and Becky’s attempts to publicly apologize to his ex-wife.

The 32-year-old singer is expected to make her comeback with an appearance on TBS’ “Nakai Masahiro no Kinyobi no Smile tachi e,” one of her former regular TV programs before the scandal broke in January, Sports Nippon reported Tuesday.

On Monday, Kawatani announced on his official blog that he and his wife have officially divorced, but did not cite reasons or details of the circumstances. “I will do my best to mature as a musician and an individual,” he wrote, asking his fans to continue supporting him.

Becky fell from grace in January after Japanese tabloid Shukan Bunshun released intimate photos and SNS messages between her and Kawatani, causing a major stir.

However, a condition that Becky herself has set for her comeback, according to Japanese media, is to officially apologize to Kawatani’s former wife. After she dropped out of circulation, Becky apparently attempted to contact Kawatani’s wife by sending her a letter in February, in which she described her regret at becoming intimate with the musician, who Becky thought was single at the time the affair began. Her letter, however, was refused by Kawatani’s wife and no contact was established, Sports Nippon reported.

Having no other way to contact Kawatani’s wife, Becky ironically took the risk to contact the scandal leak source Shukan Bunshun directly, asking for its cooperation. On April 22, the head of Sun Music Production Corp, Becky’s management agency, visited Shukan Bunshun’s editorial department with a letter from Becky addressed to the magazine’s editor, in which she confirmed her affair with Kawatani and wrote that her greatest wish is to express her regret to Kawatani’s ex-wife face to face.

Shukan Bunshun published the full contents of Becky’s letter at the end of April. Though it isn’t clear how the former Mrs Kawatani reacted to Becky’s letter, sources close to the case comment that Becky’s return to TV has been scheduled in accordance with the anticipated meeting, Sports Nippon reported, suggesting that all parties involved have decided to finally move on.

Following the scandal, Becky lost all her sponsors and stopped appearing in all her 10 regular TV programs, including the popular Nippon TV “Tensai! Shimura Dobutsuen,” “Sekai no Hate Made Itte Q!” programs and her regular Tokyo FM radio program. If her return is indeed realized, it will be her first TV appearance in three months.

Kawatani and his wife married last July, a fact he had apparently kept a secret from the public and Becky when the two got close in November the same year. According to Becky’s letter which Shukan Bunshun published, she learned that Kawatani was married after the two began a relationship and she had fallen in love with him. “I should have stopped (the relationship) at the time,” Becky wrote, expressing her regret for continuing her involvement with the 27-year-old vocalist.

The letter also implies that Kawatani and Becky have not been in touch since the scandal broke and that she no longer has feelings for him.

© Japan Today