'Single's Inferno' season 3 to have even bigger emotional rollercoasters

Television

Published: 04 Dec. 2023, 16:42 Updated: 11 Jan. 2024, 12:31

'Single's Inferno' season 3 to have even bigger emotional rollercoasters

From left, actor Lee Da-hee, television personality Dex, Kyuhyun of boy band Super Junior, rapper Hanhae and model Hong Jin-kyung pose for photos during a press conference for the third season of ″Single's Inferno″ at CGV Yongsan in central Seoul on Monday. [NEWS1]

Korea’s hit reality dating show “Single’s Inferno” will soon be back again on Netflix with a third season, and according to its producer Kim Jae-won, it’s not going to follow the same rules as the prior two seasons.

“The second season was criticized for using the exact same format as the first season, so we’ve changed the rules a lot for the upcoming season,” Kim said during a press conference held at CGV Yongsan in central Seoul on Monday. “The contestants that get matched up just 30 minutes after they arrive on the island get to escape the island to visit ‘Paradise’ for a night.”

"Single's Inferno" shows attractive single men and women trying to find love on a deserted island dubbed Inferno, without any means of communication with the outside world. Contestants can escape the island and go to a luxury hotel called Paradise only when two of them choose each other and become a match. The previous seasons have seen global success, with the first season of the show becoming the first Korean reality show to make Netflix's Top 10 list for non-English TV shows. The upcoming season is set to be released on Dec. 12.

“There are also hidden rules that the viewers will find interesting. If the first and second seasons fell into the romance genre, I would say that the third season is a romantic comedy,” Kim said. “The contestants are more straightforward with their feelings than in the previous seasons.”

Main poster for the third season of ″Single's Inferno″ [NETFLIX]

The settings within the Inferno and Paradise islands have also been updated for the new season.

“The Inferno island has become more inconvenient and cramped for the contestants, heightening their desires to be coupled up so that they can escape to Paradise,” said Hong Jin-kyung, one of the hosts of the show.

Dex, a contestant who appeared in the previous season, will join as a host and commentator in the new season. Actor Lee Da-hee, Kyuhyun of boy band Super Junior and rapper Hanhae will return as hosts. Dex rose to stardom after appearing as one of the male contestants on the second season of the show and has been actively appearing on various reality shows ever since.

“The best thing I did this year was recruiting Dex as a host for the third season,” Kim said. “We first offered him a role in the show to conduct interviews with the contestants, and he did it so well that we eventually decided to include him as one of the hosts.”

Hosts Lee Da-hee and Kyuhyun describe the third season of “Single’s Inferno” as a show that makes you go on an emotional rollercoaster.

“I cried a lot watching previous seasons, but this time I cried and kind of cursed a lot,” Lee Da-hee said. “It is that emotional to watch. I can guarantee that the viewers will be just as invested and moved as I was by this season.”

When asked if there was a contestant that stood out from the crowd for season three, the hosts unanimously selected a contestant named Lee Gwan-hee, a professional basketball player.

“I watch a lot of dating reality programs, but I have never seen anyone like Lee,” said Hanhae. “His charms and the level of his honesty is beyond what anyone could imagine. You could even say this isn’t ‘Single’s Inferno’ but ‘Lee Kwan-hee’s Inferno.’”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]