When the finale of the popular Korean reality competition Physical: 100 aired about a week ago, controversy soon followed.
Rumours abounded that the final match was restarted and that finalist Jung Hae-min, an Olympic cyclist, might have been the real winner of the challenge, instead of CrossFitter Woo Jin-yong, who took the crown.
Source: The Swoon on YouTube
Netflix Korea responded by saying that there was no rematch that changed the outcome of the game.
Breaking his silence and addressing the allegations, Hae-min told Ilyo that the final showdown had actually been halted and restarted twice by the production team.
After countless gruelling challenges, Jung Hae-min and Woo Jin-yong became the final two contestants on Physical: 100.
In their last showdown, they had to pull a thick coiled rope until it reached the end. The faster person would be crowned the winner.
On Netflix, the challenge appeared to be one continuous game. Hae-min started off strong but Jin-yong later caught up and prevailed.
As the winner, he was awarded ₩300 million (S$307,083) prize money.
However, after the show aired, rumours started swirling that the final round had to be played three times due to technical issues.
Netflix Korea later addressed these claims, saying that they did not manipulate the game and change the results.
All Kpop reported them as saying, “There has not been a ‘rematch’ that unilaterally reset the progress or changed the game results.”
While many contestants had been actively posting about Physical: 100, finalist Hae-min had not been one of them, fanning the flames of the rumours.
After a week of silence, on Tuesday (28 Feb), Hae-min came forward and decided to reveal the truth about what happened during the final challenge.
In an interview with Ilyo, Hae-min said he initially wanted to just quietly accept the results. But hearing criticisms from the cycling community made him sick.
He began reconsidering his stance after the production team claimed that there had not been a rematch.
His decision was confirmed after seeing an Instagram post by the show’s producer Jang Ho-gi which stated, “I will definitely protect the past year we gave all our blood and sweat. A lie may become famous, but it will never become the truth.”
Hae-min explained that when the final showdown first started, he was outperforming Jin-yong. Other contestants claimed he was pulling the rope about three times faster than Jin-yong.
However, mid-way through, Jin-yong raised his hand and claimed the equipment was making too much noise.
The match was allegedly stopped but the production crew did not find any issues. They then lowered the rope tension and lubricated the machinery.
With that, the match resumed. When Hae-min finally saw the end of the rope and was about to win, the production team allegedly stopped the game once again.
They claimed that there had been an audio error and they could not use the footage that had been shot.
The team then requested a rematch, telling Hae-min that they would shorten his rope for it.
He initially refused this, saying he had already used up all his strength.
But Jin-yong had consented to the rematch and the only alternative was to bring the crew consisting of hundreds of people back the next day for another match.
Feeling pressured, Hae-min agreed to the rematch.
Source: Netflix Korea on YouTube
In hindsight, he is unsure if the production team eventually cut the rope as agreed upon. In any case, he lost out to Jin-yong in that third restart.
“I couldn’t pull it out in the end, as if I had lost my strength,” said Hae-min.
Hae-min had hoped producers would explain the situation to viewers but was told contestants had no say in the editing process.
Nonetheless, Hae-min said that at the end of the day, he just wanted to tell the truth from his point of view.
He is not looking for a rematch or for the prize money.
Hae-min also stressed that the public should not attack Jin-yong, who thus far, has kept silent on social media.
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Featured image adapted from The Swoon on YouTube.
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