Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.
Dating reality shows with various new themes on rise
Posters for Wavve's dating reality show, “Hole in Love," left, and web series “H Club" / Courtesy of Wavve, Dum Dum Studio
By Lee Gyu-lee
By Lee Gyu-lee
Dating shows have been in high demand in the past couple of years, with TV networks and streaming services making hits with shows like SBS Plus' “I'm Solo” and Netflix's “Single's Inferno.”
With these shows in vogue, different formats of dating shows are on the rise to offer more variety to viewers.
Dating shows that combine romance and sports have been coming out, starting with local streaming service Wavve's “Hole in Love.”
The platform's original show, which premiered in January, follows three men and three women going on a trip around Korea to play golf while going on one-on-one dates to find their romantic match within the group.
The streaming service is set to present another dating reality show, “Somefing” (direct translation), this summer, dubbing it the Korean version of Netflix's hit show, “Too Hot to Handle.”
The upcoming show, created by the production team of “Hole in Love,” will invite participants who share an interest in surfing. The cast members will come across unpredictable missions to complete while mingling to surf and find love.
The new web show “H Club,” which is scheduled to hit YouTube in May through Dum Dum Studio's channel, will bring fitness and romance together.
A group of men and women spend 24 hours at a gym to partner up with each other to work out and find their match while sharing interests. Singer Yubin and popular fitness YouTuber Yoo Tae-yang will host the show.
TV networks are also set to roll out new dating reality shows under concepts like reuniting with one's first love and friendship-based romance.
MBC every1's upcoming reality show “First Love Again” (direct translation), which is scheduled to premiere in June, will revolve around a group of singles reuniting with their first loves. The former couples, who broke up for various reasons, spend time together walking down memory lane reminiscing about their romantic times.
“The show gives a glimpse of the realistic relationship trends of people in their 20s and 30s through reunions with their first loves, (a situation) that many dream of, and will look into what love means to young adults in this era,” the network said.
Channel S will also premiere a new reality show in June, which will follow romance and friendship among friends.
The show will invite a group of female and male friends to live together for 10 days. As they spend the days together and complete activities on a to-do list, the participants explore their feelings toward their friends to determine whether they indicate true friendship or not, while also interacting with other pairs in the group.
“The show intends to solve the biggest question of whether men and women can be true friends,” the production team said.