TV couple set to marry in spring

Actor Lee Pil-mo, left, and Seo Soo-yeon. Korea Times file

By Kang Aa-young

Actor Lee Pil-mo and his partner from a dating show will get married next year.

The two, who allegedly started dating in September on the TV Chosun dating show “Taste of Love,” announced their marriage plans through Lee's agency K Star Entertainment, Tuesday.

"The pair made a quick decision to marry because they found that they are well-matched," an agency official said. “They're currently discussing the details of the wedding.”

The reality-based dating show aimed to get single celebrities to find love, through dating a person they picked as their ideal type.

Devoted fans sent their sincere support to the couple as they revealed their feelings for each other and showcased their emotional proposal on television.

“Meeting for the first time coincidentally two years ago, at a crosswalk, and now. There's a saying that one will eventually see the person again if it's the one you're meant to see. It seems like our story. I think it might be fate. I want to keep seeing you off-camera,” Seo said, in the program.

Just like Koreans' never-ending love for star-studded reality shows, dating shows have been a cornerstone of the entertainment industry here.

The craze began with hit dating show “We Got Married,” which first aired on TV a decade ago, and garnered instant popularity. The program went on for 10 years with four consecutive seasons and was taken off air just a year ago.

It inspired a wave of similar programs inspired by the concept.

But it is the first time in 11 years that a celebrity and a non-celebrity TV couple is actually getting married.

“Their marriage is a sign that shows a changing era where reality shows are actually real,” culture critic Jung Duk-hyun said.

Compared to the past when reality shows were staged, he said the trend now is based on realistic settings, including casts members who are actual couples or real families.

“The cast was not there for the show. They were dating for real. That made the difference, or the possibility for them to become a real couple,” he said. “There will be more. They are just a sign of the shows that are becoming more realistic.”

But there are several psychological factors behind the dating show itself, according to Kwak Keum-joo, a professor of psychology at Seoul National University.

“Psychologically, people fall for each other easily when they are involved in the same activities. As they film together, work together and do some other activities together, those activities could have helped them to form their relationship,” she said.

The professor said their working conditions might have caused the suspension bridge effect which happens when a person crosses a suspension bridge and answers a question of the opposite sex. One's fear of falling makes them believe their heart is pounding. One then mistakenly believes it is a crush and becomes highly likely to contact the person after their work is finished.

In short, she said people easily fall in love while in a state of fright.