Who sells best? ENA reality show pits influencers from 9 countries against each other

X the League / Captured from Insagram

The latest reality competition show is not about testing contestants’ rapping skills or physical strength, but their ability to sell and make money. And rather than deciding who is the best, it asks which country is the best.

A press conference for ENA’s new competition show “X the League” was held at the Cube Convention Center in Mapo District, Seoul, Wednesday. In attendance were producer Lee Hye-ok and cast members Tiffany Young, BamBam, Noh Hee-young and Ki Eun-se.

“X the League” is an international competition featuring 40 top influencer-sellers divided into eight national teams representing nine countries: Korea, China, Japan, the United States, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and a joint Singapore-Malaysia team.

The 40 contestants will put both national pride and their own reputations on the line in a fierce, 100-day sales battle. The competition offers a total prize pool of $500,000, with the winning team earning the title of “Global No. 1 Seller.”

Among the contestants is Francesca Farago, known for appearing in the Netflix reality series “Too Hot to Handle,” who will represent Team USA. Singapore will be represented by JianHao Tan, one of Asia’s leading content creators with 7.7 million subscribers. Team Korea will be led by renowned branding expert Noh Hee-young as its owner and actor Ki Eun-se as its captain.

In each round, the contestants will face large-scale challenges spanning the full spectrum of livestream shopping and testing their ability to sell. The influencer-sellers will take the stage to put their sales strategies, content-planning abilities and execution to the test. The challenges will grow increasingly demanding as the competition progresses, with higher sales targets before culminating in limited-edition product launches and simultaneous global sales events.

The show will be co-hosted by Tiffany Young and BamBam, both of whom have large international fan bases and previous hosting experience.

Onstage at the press conference, Team Korea captain and actor Ki Eun-se expressed her excitement ahead of the show’s premiere.

“We worked hard filming the show for about four months. We gave it everything we had, so I hope viewers will enjoy it.”

Noh added, “I believe I did well as the owner of Team Korea. It was exciting to compete against teams from other countries that were even more driven than we were. I hope the show offers a glimpse into how independent online sellers operate.”

Noh is familiar to the Korean public as a brand consultant and former designer through appearances on shows including “Master in the House,” “Video Star,” “Bake Your Dream” and the “MasterChef Korea” series.

“I cannot remember a time when Korea received this much attention from around the world,” Noh said. “Yet despite that popularity, Korean products still do not have a global presence commensurate with that of Korean content, an issue I have been thinking about for some time. For me, this show was an opportunity to represent Korea and promote products made by small and medium-sized businesses, so I took part with a sense of pride and determination.”

ENA's " X The League" cast members pose for a promotional photo. From left are actress Ki Eun-se, branding expert Noh Hee-young, and singers BamBam and Tiffany Young. Captured from Instagram

Tiffany, who said she had been closely following the rise of influencers building brands of their own, was intrigued by how such a competition would play out on an international scale.

“That curiosity led me to join the project. Looking back on filming, I remember being struck by the sheer scale of the production from the very beginning, and it only grew with each round,” she said. “I’m deeply interested in original Korean content, so I’m very excited to see how inventive this variety show will be.”

Co-host BamBam said he was honored to be given the opportunity after spending the past several years working mainly overseas.

“Commerce has become impossible to ignore, and I joined because I wanted to learn more about it myself.”

The Thai star also serves as a team owner in addition to hosting the show. BamBam, however, was modest about his role.

“Honestly, I didn’t do much. For me, it was more about learning than being a team owner.”

The large-scale project aims to go beyond being a lavish commerce-themed variety show and promote Korean brands through a network of global mega influencer-sellers, according to the production team. The team hopes the network will open new overseas sales channels for smaller Korean companies that have struggled to enter international markets.

To that end, Team Korea brings together several prominent influencers, including beauty artist Sangeun Unnie, product reviewer Kkak Unnie and fashion expert Kkang Stylist, who will draw on their respective specialties in their bid to win the competition.

“The commerce landscape is quickly shifting. Consumers are increasingly making purchases based on the authenticity they see in celebrities and content creators, which is what inspired us to create this show,” Lee said.

“The contestants appearing on ‘X the League’ are no ordinary influencers, but figures with millions-strong global fan bases. Their fandoms, expertise and personal journeys are all part of the show. Viewers will see how an individual becomes a brand.”

Asked what advantages Team Korea holds over its competitors, Ki pointed to the members’ distinct personalities and clearly defined areas of expertise.

“Each member knows very well what she can sell. Compared with the other teams, our individual tastes and specialties are particularly clear.”

Foreign tourists visit a makeup demonstration booth at the 2026 Korea Beauty Festival at HiKR Ground in Jung District, Seoul, June 25. Yonhap

Of the products offered by 200 Korean brands, K-beauty items proved by far the most popular. Products already familiar to overseas consumers through Korean dramas and films were quickly snapped up.

Addressing the possibility that Team Korea might receive preferential treatment, Lee dismissed the idea, saying the production team traveled to every participating country for filming. Contestants are judged strictly on their completion of each mission and their sales figures, while all products featured on the show were vetted by the production team.

With around 40 contestants competing across language barriers with the help of simultaneous interpretation, the stage is set for a fierce contest.

“Consumers in quite a few countries are heavily driven by fandom, as Koreans once were,” Noh said. “While filming the show, we were able to analyze which markets remain ill-suited to livestream shopping, as well as the purchasing power of different fandoms. It also made me realize that many excellent Korean products remain little known overseas. I see enormous potential across every category, including beauty, food and electronic devices. I hope future seasons will offer more opportunities to introduce them to the world.”

K-food products are on display at the 2026 MyK FESTA at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, June 25. Yonhap

The production team added that having Tiffany and BamBam confirmed as hosts greatly helped with recruiting celebrities from other countries.

Ki described the exceptional sense of responsibility she felt as Team Korea’s captain.

“I felt that I had to lead the team well and ensure Korea finished near the top,” she said. “During the first round, I had no idea how the competition would unfold, and the stress was so intense that I cried at night. I had given it my all, but seeing our performance measured in hard numbers brought out my competitive side. Still, I took pride in representing Korea and gave it everything I had through all five rounds.”

“X the League” premieres Sunday.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.