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Later this month, South Korea will launch its first lesbian-only dating reality show called ToGetHer. It premieres on April 25 on the streaming platform Wavve. A teaser video with English subtitles is already on YouTube.
The show features lesbian participants living together in the "ToGetHerHouse" on Jeju Island. They'll go on one-on-one dates, do bonding activities, and share letters as they look for love and share their stories.
Other Queer shows on Wavve
This new series comes on the heels of the success of Wavve’s gay dating reality show His Man, which initially premiered in 2022 and has completed three seasons.
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In His Man, male contestants lived together for eight days and experienced twists like anonymous phone calls and the surprise appearance of a new contestant. Wavve claimed His Man was its highest performing series in adding new paid subscriptions after season one aired.
Wavve also launched Merry Queer in 2022, a reality show highlighting LGBTQ+ couples, including gay, transgender, and lesbian relationships. It followed three pairs—gay couple Bo-sung and Min-jun, bisexual-transgender couple Min-ju and Ji-hae, and lesbian couple Seung-eun and Ga-ram, as they navigated love and societal norms.
There was backlash from conservative groups for both His Man and Merry Queer. After His Man's first season finished airing, groups like Healthy Society protested outside of Wavve's headquarters in Seoul to say that there should not be such content for children to consume.
Wavve was launched in 2019 as a joint venture between three of South Korea's biggest broadcasters, KBS, MBC, and SBS, and the country's own telecommunications company, SKT.
More about Merry Queer and His Man
Merry Queer debut on Korean streaming platform Wavve in 2022 and represented a significant forward step for LGBTQ representation in Korean reality TV. The show depicted three real-life couples and their experiences in their relationships while working through love, identity, and societal standards.
Among these couples are Bo-sung and Min-jun, a gay couple; Min-ju and Ji-hae, a bisexual and transgender couple; and Seung-eun and Ga-ram, a lesbian couple. Set in a conservative society, Merry Queer provided a unique, intimate view of queer relationships, focusing on themes such as coming out, acceptance by the family and even marriage.
This program emphasized the importance of honest storytelling and not sensationalism - truly empathizing with he participants and representing them honestly. Still, Merry Queer faced backlash from conservative groups who felt LGBTQ content has no place in mainstream media.
His Man made history in 2022 as South Korea's first gay dating reality show on the streaming platform Wavve. The series followed eight gay men who lived together in the same house for eight days, collectively seeking romantic closeness through meal prep, conversations, dates, and secret phone calls to express feelings for each other.
Within its warm shared house settings, His Man treated viewers with a meaningful look into same-sex romance, which is rarely seen in the mainstream Korean media.
Not only did the series gain attention for its fresh format, but the sincerity of the emotional cues, as well as the complexities of LGBTQ dating, took some fans by surprise. Unexpectedly, a new contestant was introduced midseason as a twist, turning the proverbial tables and amplifying the emotional stakes.
After the successful launch of its first season, His Man came back for a second and third season, extending the show's credibility and further projecting a sense of inclusive entertainment in a country with diminishing representation in mainstream settings.
While the show was criticized by some conservatives, it garnered a worldwide fanbase and significantly increased subscriptions for Wavve. Together, these indicators and wildly popular fan events set a precedent for the demand for queer representation in Korean media.
