(Following interview ①) The producers of Single's Inferno 5 explained about contestant Lee Seong-hoon's 'grandson of Lee Myung-bak' rumor.
Netflix held an interview for the original variety show Single's Inferno 5 on the morning of Feb. 13 at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Producers Kim Jaewon, Kim Junghyun and Park Suji, who directed the program, attended and talked about the recently concluded Single's Inferno 5.
Single's Inferno 5 is a bold, candid dating reality show set on a remote island called "Jigok-do," where contestants can leave only if they become a couple. Although the Single's Inferno series has boasted flashy contestants each season, this season drew particular attention to male contestant Lee Seong-hoon because of allegations that he is the former president Lee Myung-bak's grandson.
Producer Kim Junghyun said with a laugh, "We confirmed that the claim that Lee Seong-hoon is the grandson of former president Lee Myung-bak is not true. We asked because they look so much alike and their voices are similar, wondering if it was real, but they said it wasn't. He must have been embarrassed. We contacted them, and although the reply from the U.S. was delayed, it still wasn't true."
Lee Seong-hoon, who graduated from UC Berkeley and worked as a quant trader on Wall Street in New York, attracted attention for his impressive credentials. In addition, female contestant Park Hi-seon was revealed to be a talent studying at the prestigious U.S. engineering school Carnegie Mellon, adding to the surprise. Regarding this phenomenon of contestants with high credentials, producer Kim Jaewon clarified, "We strictly select based on appearance. But Lee Seong-hoon and a few contestants stood out too much, so that might be why."
He self-assessed, "We of course believe a person's charm comes from various points, and sometimes a person's abilities or charisma strongly stand out, so we try to select such people for diversity. It's not that Seong-hoon lacks looks; his profession is attractive, and being from New York adds diversity, and those aspects stood out, but I don't think we look at credentials more than many other dating programs."
Producer Kim Junghyun added, "When we met groups with the production team, we often felt like we were talking with adults. But this time we introduced one-on-one conversations during selection. We gave them time to talk with the opposite sex and watched from the next room with cameras. We proceeded after getting consent. At that time, Mina-su and Hee-seon were passive in group settings, but when talking one-on-one with the opposite sex their eyes lit up and they spoke well. That aspect was an added factor when judging character. Mina-su showed varied expressions and many reactions even in group talks, and that character was somewhat present then too. We didn't know they would have such diverse characters."
So which contestants did the production team expect during the meeting process? Producer Kim Jaewon said, "We seemed to have high expectations for Song Seung-il and Im Su-bin. They were younger contestants compared with past seasons, and at first there was prejudice. It didn't seem easy for younger contestants to shine. But in the interviews we thought, 'These young people these days are formidable.' They were more determined than older contestants in some ways, and they could hold conversations well, so we had high expectations. Especially, both of them were attractively different in appearance, so I bragged to my family that such-looking people would appear this season. As expected, many viewers fell for their charm. We were proud because they received a lot of support."
Producer Kim Jaewon said regarding the public evaluation called the 'Single's Inferno look,' "It fit perfectly when looking at Song Seung-il — if we had to put a male face in the season 1 proposal, he would have been that face. Not a textbook handsome man, but with an MZ vibe and a somewhat rough-around-the-edges look. That seems to be our ideal type."
(Continued from interview ③)<
[Photo] Provided by Netflix.
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