“Heart Signal” Cast Member Kim Jang Mi Reveals What It’s Like In Korean Reality TV

In an interview with NONSENSIBLE, a Dive Studios podcast, Kim Jang Mi shares that she was actually looking for love when she joined season 2 of Korea’s dating reality show Heart Signal in 2018. She came to the decision of joining the show because she told herself “before I turn 30, I’m just going to do something crazy.”

While the show didn’t end in love for her, she now looks back at her time on the show with a laugh, sharing that during filming “I kind of felt like I was getting brainwashed. Like, this is the only guy you can meet.”

But being stuck in a house with the same few people for a month can do that to you. Soon enough, Jang Mi did end up falling for one of the men, Kim Do Gyun, and seeing the good in him after naturally spending time with him.

“I think thats why the show itself did so well. Because it wasn’t scripted. Because the feelings that everyone was feeling within the house was very strong.”

—Kim Jang Mi

While she and Do Gyun didn’t end up as a couple in the show, Jang Mi reveals that they tried dating after the show because he and the girl he chose in the show ended up not working out. However, fate was not on their side and Jang Mi and Do Gyun decided to be friends instead.

Jang Mi shares that after the show, she moved back to New York where she owns her clothing store and didn’t “feel the fame” until she flew back to Korea. When she arrived, she was bombarded with people and questions every single day. So much so that she had to move out of Seoul to escape from it.

But now, Jang Mi shares that she is ready to dive back into the world of television with her role in a new reality show Friends with other cast members from season 2 and 3 of Heart Signal.