"Physical: 100" is a survival game in which 100 people compete for a prize of 300 million won to find the best body. The show accumulated 45.42 million hours of cumulative viewing time from February 13 to 19 this year. That means at least 45 million people watched the program. For the second week in a row, "The Physical: 100" was the top non-English-language TV show in the global top 10. The online community is still buzzing about the final episode of Physical: 100.
The top two contestants, Woo Jin Yong and Jung Hae Min, played a game called "Infinite Rope Pull" to determine the final winner. The winner is the contestant who can pull the rope on the pulley the longest. The online community has been talking about this infinite rope pull. In the broadcast, there is a scene where Woo Jin-yong pulls the rope on the wheel and the rope comes out relatively easily, but Jung Hae-min doesn't even flinch when pulling the rope on his arm. There are even suspicions about this.
In response, Woo Jinyong said, "I don't have anything to say." Netflix said, "After checking with the MBC production team, the suspicion that there was a problem with Mr. Jung's equipment is not true, and there was no request for a rematch from Mr. Jung."
However, according to the Sunday newspaper, this was not the only problem surrounding the final. It turns out that there was not just one final match, but a whole series of events that led to the winner being changed. We sent a message to Jung Hae-min to find out what happened, but did not receive a reply. "I know that Jung Hae Min is very heartbroken over this," said an insider who asked not to be named, "which is probably why he is not doing any activities related to 'Physical: 100'." According to the Sunday newspaper's interview with the cast and crew, the situation was as follows.
The final task, the rope pull, started and both sides started pulling. They had been pulling for a while, and at that time, Jung Hae Min was pulling much more, and the difference was getting quite large. At this point, Woo Jin-yong raised his hand and raised an issue. He claimed that there was a problem with the machine. The first game was stopped.
The crew rushed to check the machine. They said there was nothing wrong with the machine. At this point, Woo Jin Yong complained that there was too much squeaking, and Jung Hae Min told the crew that the pulleys sometimes squeak when they first start rolling. In the end, the producers lubricated both machines and lowered the tension on the pulley with the rope to make it easier to pull.
When the match resumed, both were able to untie the rope with ease. In the second match, Jeong ended up winning. However, this time, the producers demanded a rematch. The audio of the final match was having problems and the video was unusable. Mr. B, an official who knew the situation, said, "Five members of the production team surrounded Jung Hae-min and pressured him to play a rematch. They said, "It's an expensive project, so we can't broadcast it like this. At the time, the production team offered to cut the rope a little bit because he actually won.
He said, "I pulled with all my might the first time and the second time, and it was impossible because I used all my strength," but after tens of minutes of struggling, he finally agreed to a rematch. The scene of the rope not turning on Jung Hae Min's side came from the third match. "I don't know if it's really a stuck pulley," Mr. A said. Neither Woo Jin-yong nor Jung Hae-min gave a clear answer, so we don't know the truth. Anyway, that's how the finals ended and the winners were announced. The first prize is 300 million won, but the second prize is nothing.
This is one of the reasons why the final scene of The Physical: 100 felt a bit hollow. Typically, survival shows end with the winner roaring or performing some sort of ceremony, and the previous contestants taking turns celebrating. On the other hand, the final episode of "Physical: 100" ends with a few words from Woo Jin Yong as soon as the game is over. It was said that both sides were not in a winning mood because of the cliffhanger ending.
It is said that the previous eliminators were not immediately aware of the situation. The cast members who were hired to cheer for the eliminated contestants were waiting in a room, watching the monitors and reacting. They only knew that Woo Jin Yong raised his hand and the game was stopped, or that there were several rematches in a chaotic situation, but they didn't know the details. However, Mr. A explained, "It's such a sensitive topic that even the cast members are taking it easy, but it was said that the result was unexpected because Jung Hae Min Jeon's full strength was used up," he said.
Some of them were surprised to hear about the situation later. "When I heard about this, I thought, 'Why didn't they immediately protest? Even if there was an audio problem, they shouldn't have accepted the rematch. They said, 'Why would you replay an Olympic final because of an audio problem,' but it was too late."
Mr. C, a member of the public who has appeared on reality programs, said that in a similar situation, it would be difficult for a member of the public cast to raise the issue with the producers. "In reality, in reality or survival programs, there are times when there are problems or confusion in the process, but it is difficult for a member of the public who is not familiar with the culture of the filming site to raise issues such as 'demanding reshoots' when the crew of more than 100 people is tired." "Even if I don't want to do it, the five writers who have been communicating with me for a long time are in town, and if I appease them, I will have no choice but to accept the rematch in that situation," Mr. C said.
In response to these allegations, the MBC production team said, "After checking, it is not true that the final was held a total of three times," and "The production team is currently discussing how to respond to various unconfirmed rumors on the Internet."
Meanwhile, the online community has been speculating about Jung Hae Min's recent absence from posting about "Physical: 100" on her Instagram. While the cast of "Physical: 100" has been posting about the global success of the show,
Jung Hae Min, the second runner-up, hasn't posted any. A source familiar with Jung Hae Min said, "Jung Hae Min is so hurt that he regrets appearing on 'Physical: 100'. He doesn't want to talk about 'Physical: 100' anymore."
Reporter Kim Tae-hyun
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