Hallyu star joins 'Grandpas Over Flowers'

The cast members of the reality show "Grandpas Over Flowers" make heart shapes over their heads during a press conference at 63 Square in Seoul, last Tuesday. From left are producer Park Hee-yeon, actress Choi Ji-woo, actors Lee Soon-jae, Shin Goo, Park Geun-hyung, Baek Il-seob and Lee Seo-jin, and producer Na Young-seok. / Yonhap

By Kim Jae-heun

Hallyu actress Choi Ji-woo has joined the fourth series of the reality travel show "Grandpas Over Flowers" with the five original members, Korean entertainment conglomerate CJ E&M announced in a press conference at 63 Square Building in Seoul, Tuesday. Choi is expected to invigorate the show which only starred men in previous seasons.

"When I and the four elderly actors were traveling together in the last seasons, we were too quiet, especially at the dinner table," said 40-something actor Lee Seo-jin, an original cast member who took the role as a tour guide for the popular program. "In our new episodes, Choi created an affectionate atmosphere with the seniors."

The younger actor and actress had good chemistry during the trip but often squabbled about their expenses, which resembled a fight between couples.

"Lee nagged me for overspending and did not share the money. My allowance is included in the whole program's budget, you know," said Choi during the press conference. Lee refuted that he was only doing his job as a financial manager and Choi spent money like she was on her private tour.

Lee joined the show in July 2013 along with four elderly actors. They backpacked in France, Switzerland, Taipei and Spain. In the fourth season, the program set its new destination as Greece, which the four elder celebrities chose over Cuba.

"We were agonizing over Greece and Cuba and we decided that Greece had the perfect weather for traveling," said Lee Soon-jae, the oldest grandfather in the show.

"Also, 10 days is too short for Cuba and the country has not yet established diplomatic relations with Korea," said Lee.

The youngest grandfather Baek Il-seob was not happy with the two junior members of the team, who made him walk to restaurants all the time.

"I will give five out of one hundred for Ji-woo and zero for Seo-jin. I don't understand why I had to walk a one-subway-station distance to eat," said Baek. "We even had a car."

Choi was worried about disappointing the original members who starred in the previous programs already, but in the end she felt comfortable traveling together.

"Grandpas Over Flower" gained popularity across the nation from its very first episode, which focused on four celebrity grandfathers with an average age of 76 visiting France and Switzerland. The cable program quickly topped the TV rating for tvN, a nationwide general entertainment network owned by CJ E&M.

Against this backdrop, a spin-off series "Sisters Over Flowers" starred top actresses mostly in their 50s, who had never appeared on reality TV before. They went on a 10-day trip to Istanbul, Zagreb, Split and Dubrovik, breaking stereotypes of actresses as they appeared on the show.

Another spin-off series "Youth Over Flowers" featured three singer-songwriters Yoon Sang, Yoo Hee-yeol and Lee Juck who backpacking in Peru and Laos with actors from "Reply 1994" Yoo Yeon-seok, Son Ho-jun and Baro. Throughout the eleven episodes the show recorded an average TV rating of 5 percent, whereas 1 percent is usually consider successful for a cable channel.

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