Mr. Han, who appeared on ENA and SBS Plus’ "I Am Solo, Love Forever", offered a candid apology and explanation after his past on-camera trash talk aimed at fellow alum Mr. Kang stirred backlash.
During an Oct. 17 YouTube livestream titled "I Am Solo, Love Forever LIVE ― All the Feels in Our Golden Episode 38" on the Chonjang Entertainment channel, Han addressed viewers’ calls for an apology.
“First, let me apologize,” he began, before unpacking how tensions with Mr. Kang arose. “I haven’t spent much time around introverted guys. I’ve mostly been around women, and I’m naturally pretty chatty,” he said. “I was trying to be brutally honest on camera, and that’s how those words came out.”
On the show, Han had bristled while talking about Kang, saying, “Why would I feel beneath him? I don’t even see him as competition,” which drew heavy criticism from viewers.
Addressing it now, Han owned up to it: “Looking back, yeah ― I was intimidated. I just didn’t want to admit it then.” He added that after filming wrapped, the two met privately. “I told him straight up that I’d spoken poorly about him, and thankfully Mr. Kang understood. We’ve actually been on good terms ― sometimes it feels like the audience is trying to drive a wedge between us.”
He closed with a plea: “I’m sorry for how I came across. Please know I was trying to be sincere. If we come down too hard on people, future cast members might hold back ― and on a show like this, authenticity matters most.”
Meanwhile, the Oct. 16 episode ended with four final couples: Season 11’s Young-sook with Mr. Kim; Season 23’s Ok-soon with Mr. Kang; Season 24’s Ok-soon with Mr. Na; and Season 25’s Ok-soon with Mr. Yoon. Season 23’s Soon-ja, Season 26’s Soon-ja, Mr. Kwon and Mr. Han opted out of making a final choice.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)