Dating shows don’t have such a great rep stateside, but here in Korea, they’re a sure-fire way to get attention and the all-too-desirable ratings.
Of course, it helps that most of the dating shows are tinged with a sense of reality -- just enough to get fans riled up, but not enough to sound the wedding bells.
Falling in with our theme of the month, LOVE, we’re bringing you a round-up of some our favorite Korean dating shows.
We Got Married
Arguably the most well-recognized show centered on love, We Got Married managed to pull of what seemed like an inane concept: virtual marriage.
The first season of the show partnered together relative strangers in marriage, bringing together celebrities in a way never done before. While Korea is all about hiding celebrity relationships (come on, we call them scandals), this time, everything from the first date to the wedding photos were all on display.
It was a combination of the pairs pretending to really be in love and the fact that we all knew it couldn’t be true that kept us all watching, waiting, and hoping that virtuality could become reality.
Of course, it only happened once, when Shinhwa’s Jun Jin ended up dating (albeit briefly) his ‘wife’ actress Lee Si Young.
What ended up happening much more often was individuals confessing they were dating...other people. Some even led to marriages, as in the case of actress Shin Ae (who, shortly after leaving the show and her husband Alex, announced her engagement to a business man) and Jung Hyung Don (who left his very good gig as SNSD’s Taeyeon’s hubby to get married as well).
So while you never know what to believe when cameras and celebrities are involved, perhaps We Got Married does bring true love...somehow.
At the very least, we got a bunch of ultra-cute nicknames out of it, like the
YongSeo Couple (CN Blue’s Jung Yong Hwa and SNSD’s Seohyun), Adam Couple (BEG’s Gain and 2AM’s Jo Kwon) and the Ssangchu Couple (Hwang Bo and Kim Hyun Joong). Who needs Brangelina when you have Khuntoria?
