Better Late Than Single Season 2 Cast: Meet the Eternal Singles Who Made the Internet Fall in Love

Something quietly nice about a dating show that doesn’t promise you a rose is nice. There were no elimination rounds, fake love triangles, or contestants who were only there to get more fans. Better Late Than Single, which is on Netflix, came back for a second season this past summer. More than 17,000 people applied, but only a few were chosen as sincere enough to make the whole idea work.

쥰쳔롻, which means “eternal single” in English, is the basis for the idea. In Season 2, twelve of them went to Jeju Island in Korea for nine days of makeovers, coaching, awkward dates, and the kind of vulnerability that most reality TV shows only pretend to show.

The cast of Season 2 of Better Late Than Single is older than most dating shows. Most of the people who are taking part are in their late 20s or early 30s, which is an age when life starts to feel like a series of gentle social reminders. There are a lot of weddings coming up. Moms start to ask questions. There’s a strain that doesn’t scream, just hums.

Kim Jae-seo, who is 32 years old, has probably the most interesting backstory. A graduate of KAIST and one of the people who helped create PUBG: Battlegrounds, which is one of the most popular video games ever, he worked on it for almost his whole 20s. People thought he wasn’t interested in dating because he had gray hair at age 32. He did something special for the event: he dyed his hair black. He wanted to look like someone who might have time for love now.

Then there’s Yoon Jung-yun, who is 26 years old and shy. Before the show, she had never been on a blind date. He has hyperhidrosis, which means his palms sweat when he’s nervous. He’ll tell you that himself, without being asked, which makes you like him right away. He didn’t get new clothes as part of his makeover. He practiced making eye contact with people he didn’t know on a series of fake blind dates. It’s almost soft to watch this kind of planning happen on a reality show. It’s like you walked into someone’s private therapy session and they want you to stay.

Jeon Seo-yoon, 29, is a huge fan of NCT DREAM and applied because she’s getting close to 30 and thought it was time. What she said, “the fangirl muscle and the dating muscle are basically the same,” is funnier and more true than anything a dating coach could say. That line should stay in the culture for a while, even if the show didn’t work out for her.

Lee Han-ju is a 27-year-old Korean doctor who practices acupuncture and herbal medicine. She once called a man on a blind date a “man-whore” for trying to brush her hair back too many times. She was sure of what she was saying. One thing about her that makes her feel like a real person and not a TV character is that she says she likes pretty boys with a little bad-boy edge.

The hosts are Seo In-guk, Kang Han-na, Lee Eun-ji, and Car, the Garden. They are all back from Season 1. For a dating show, they find a strange balance between being present without being bothersome and opinionated without being mean. Seo In-guk has become a regular on Netflix. He is currently starring in Boyfriend on Demand with BLACKPINK’s Jisoo. The Baeksang Arts Awards in 2023 gave the award for Best Female Variety Entertainer to Lee Eun-ji, a comedian who used to compete in dance sports. These hosts aren’t just filler. They know how to do things.

The first episode aired on July 7, and the last one aired on July 28. There was also a reunion on August 1. Out of the twelve people who came, only two couples formed. Some people might take that as a mistake. There is a chance that two couples out of twelve adults who are socially awkward and have never been in a relationship meeting in nine days is closer to a success than the format usually allows. That’s what the show seems to get.

When you watch Better Late Than Single, you get the feeling that it’s not really trying to make up love stories. It wants to show you what happens when someone finally does something they’ve been putting off for years. It’s tougher to film that. The cast of Season 2 was worth watching because they were awkward, real, and trying their best.