A still from the Korean Netflix original dating program “Single’s Inferno” (provided by Netflix)
I remember hearing that the show was Korea’s answer to “Too Hot to Handle.” I couldn’t believe that even Netflix would have the nerve to make a show like “Too Hot to Handle” in Korea. The US dating show, which Netflix released in 2020, was quite risque. It whisked away to a small island a group of men and women with the kind of chiseled bodies produced by eating no carbs and powering through three-hour workouts every day.There’s one catch, though. To win the show, you have to abstain from all sexual relations. The moment the contestants heard this rule, they groaned as if someone had told them down was up. That’s America for you.While Koreans may be more sexually open than they used to, I doubt that anyone here would agree to compete in a reality show like that. There wouldn’t be an audience for it, either.
A still from the Korean Netflix original dating program “Single’s Inferno” (provided by Netflix)
When “Singles Inferno” first came out, it actually reassured me that a show like “Too Hot to Handle” could never be made in a place like Korea, with its Confucian background. The show wasn’t as radical as I’d feared.Sure enough, there was a cohort of men and women with the kind of chiseled bodies produced by not eating carbs and powering through three-hour workouts every day. But there wasn’t any sex — nor any kissing, either. Guys and gals boasting bodacious bods sat down with unusual propriety and awkwardly exchanged greetings. In general, it highly resembled “I am Solo,” a modified version of the “Jjak” dating show made by SBS, which aired from 2011-2014. In fact, the only difference between “I am Solo” and “Single’s Inferno” is the level of attractiveness of the participants. This is not to say there is anything wrong with how “I am Solo” contestants look — the two programs simply have different aims.
