SEOUL – The second season of Netflix Korea’s flagship survival competition show Physical: 100 will feature formidable participants, including renowned national athletes, taking part in quests of increased difficulty, according to the show’s producers.
The Physical: 100 series features 100 contestants competing in survival matches to see who is the most physically fit. The winner gets prize money of 300 million won (S$300,500).
Unveiled in 2023, Season 1 of the reality series was a global success, and it was the first South Korean variety show to top Netflix’s global top 10 chart for non-English TV shows.
Over the course of six consecutive weeks, the nine-part series accumulated more than 192 million hours of viewing, surpassing hit South Korean original dramas such as Hellbound (2021) and Juvenile Justice (2022).
According to the producers of Physical: 100 Season 2 – Underground, Season 2 will differ from the first in that its participants consist largely of professional athletes.
Nearly 30 per cent of the participants of the new season are incumbent or former national athletes.
Notable contestants include South Korean Olympic wrestling gold medallist Jung Ji-hyun and Olympic judo gold medallist Lee Won-hee, and Kim Dong-hyun, the first South Korean UFC fighter with the highest number of wins within the country.
Also, the new season will include more difficult tasks.
“What we considered the most in preparing the second season of Physical: 100 was that participants could analyse the first season and be ready for the second one,” said Jang Ho-gi, producer of Physical: 100 Season 2 – Underground, during a press conference in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on March 14.
“We needed to design quests that would break with the participants’ expectations. Therefore, we ramped up the difficulty level of the survival quests.”
Jang added: “A slew of former and incumbent national athletes who have enjoyed the first season joined us for this season, and, they told me that this season reminded them of participating in international sports games.”
The first episode of Physical: 100 Season 2 – Underground will premiere on Netflix on March 19 at 3pm. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
