Heart Signal

For the Chinese version of the show, see Heart Signal (Chinese TV series).

Heart Signal (Korean: 하트시그널) is a South Korean dating reality television show distributed by Channel A. Season 1 of the show aired in 2017, followed by season 2 in 2018, season 3 in 2020 and season 4 in 2023.^[1][2] Based on the cast members of Heart Signal, a new program named Friends was also produced.^[3]

Heart Signal
Promotional poster of season 3
Genre	Entertainment Reality
Directed by	Lee Jin-min, Park Kyong-sik, Seung-Young Yoon, Yun Hoon Ki, Choi Yoon Ah, Kim Hye In, Shin Yoo Jin, Nam Eun Young, Jung Sung Hee, Kim Na Ra, Choi Eunji
Presented by	See below
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	40 + 6 specials
Production
Running time	70-130 minutes
Production company	Channel A
Original release
Network	Channel A
Release	June 2, 2017 (2017-06-02) – present
Related
Friends

Overview

The reality show follows eight people living together for one month as they get to know each other and go on dates. Every night, each cast member sends an anonymous text message to another cast member to show their romantic interest. However, they are not allowed to directly confess their love. Meanwhile, a panel of celebrities and experts watches the show, analyzing the cast members' actions and trying to predict who will text who.^[4][5]

Panelists

Season 1^[6]

• Yoon Jong-shin
• Lee Sang-min
• Kim Eana
• Yang Jae-woong
• Shim So-young
• Shindong (Super Junior)

Season 2^[7]

• Yoon Jong-shin
• Lee Sang-min
• Kim Eana
• Yang Jae-woong
• ONE
• Soyou

Season 3^[8]

• Lee Sang-min
• Kim Eana
• Yang Jae-woong
• Han Hye-jin
• Yoon Shi-yoon
• P.O (Block B)

Season 4^[2]

• Yoon Jong-shin
• Lee Sang-min
• Kim Eana
• Kim Choong-gi
• Kang Seung-yoon (Winner) -> Kim Jin-woo (Winner)^[9]
• Mimi (Oh My Girl)

Cast members

Season 1^[6][10][11]

Name	Birth year	Occupation	Notes
Jang Cheon (장천)	1985	lawyer
Kang Sung-wook (강성욱)	1985	musical actor
Seo Joo-won (서주원)	1994	race car driver
Yoon Hyeon-chan (윤현찬)	1985	chef and restaurant owner	Joined the show in episode 8
Bae Yoon-kyung (배윤경)	1993	actress
Kim Se-rin (김세린)	1993	marketer at Cirque du Soleil
Seo Ji-hye (서지혜)	1996	student at Ewha Womans University
Shin A-ra (신아라)	1995	first runner-up at Miss Korea 2016	Joined the show in episode 4

Final Results

Confession Result

Participants
Kang Sung-wook	↔	Shin A-ra
Jang Cheon	↔	Bae Yoon-kyung
Seo Joo-won	→	Seo Ji-hye
Yoon Hyeon-chan	→	Shin A-ra
Kim Se-rin	→	Jang Cheon
Seo Ji-hye	→	Jang Cheon

Season 2^[12][13]

Name	Birth year	Occupation	Notes
Kim Do-gyun (김도균)	1988	Korean medicine doctor
Jung Jae-ho (정재호)	1990	CEO of a startup company
Lee Gyu-bin (이규빈)	1993	preparing to join the South Korean public service
Kim Hyun-woo (김현우)	1985	chef and restaurant owner	Joined the show in episode 2
Oh Young-joo (오영주)	1991	marketer at Microsoft
Song Da-eun (송다은)	1991	aspiring actress
Im Hyun-joo (임현주)	1992	work as an actress [14]	student at Kookmin University
Kim Jang-mi (김장미)	1989	fashion boutique owner	Joined the show in episode 6

Final Results

Confession Result

Participants
Jung Jae-ho	↔	Song Da-eun
Kim Hyun-woo	↔	Im Hyun-joo
Kim Do-gyun	→	Im Hyun-joo
Lee Gyu-bin	→	Oh Young-joo
Oh Young-joo	→	Kim Hyun-woo
Kim Jang-mi	→	Kim Do-gyun

Season 3^[15][16][17]

Name	Birth year	Occupation	Notes
Cheon In-woo (천인우)	1989	engineering manager at a fintech company
Jung Eui-dong (정의동)	1992	animal replica sculptor
Im Han-gyeol (임한결)	1989	branding consultant for restaurants
Kim Kang-yeol (김강열)	1994	online fashion boutique owner	Joined the show in episode 6
Lee Ga-heun (이가흔)	1996	veterinary student
Park Ji-hyun (박지현)	1996	student at Waseda University
Seo Min-jae (서민재)	1993	auto mechanic	studied at Inha University and Hanyang University
Cheon An-na (천안나)	1994	secretary	Joined the show in episode 8

Final Results

Confession Result

Participants
Im Han-gyeol	↔	Seo Min-jae
Kim Kang-yeol	↔	Park Ji-hyun
Cheon In-woo	→	Park Ji-hyun
Jung Eui-dong	→	Cheon An-na
Lee Ga-heun	→	Jung Eui-dong
Cheon An-na	→	Kim Kang-yeol

Season 4^[18]

Name	Birth year	Occupation	Notes
Shin Min-gyu (신 민규)	1993	Strategy Consultant
Han Gyeo-re (한 겨레)	1989	CEO of F&B Company	Winner of barista competition in South Korea and represented the country in international competitions
Yoo Ji-won (유 지원)	1996	Medical intern
Lee Hu-shin (이 후신)	1993	Painter and model	Joined in Episode 3
Lee Ju-mi (이 주미)	1994	Lawyer
Kim Ji-young (김 지영)	1995	Brand officer at interior architecture company	Former Korean Air flight attendant
Kim Ji-min (김 지민)	2000	Student at Sungshin Women's University
Yoo Yi-soo (유 이수)	1998	Casting agent and model	Joined in Episode 6

Heart Signals

  Male participants
  Female participants
  Heart Signal was not revealed
  Choose each other

Heart Signals

Participants

Episodes

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

Final

Shin Min-gyu

Kim Ji-min

Kim Ji-min

Kim Ji-min

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-min

Kim Ji-min

Yoo Yi-soo

Lee Ju-mi

Yoo Yi-soo

Yoo Yi-soo

No votings held

Yoo Yi-soo

Yoo Yi-soo

No votings held

Yoo Yi-soo

Lee Ju-mi

Shin Min-gyu

Han Gyeo-re

Shin Min-gyu

Han Gyeo-re

Shin Min-gyu

Han Gyeo-re

Han Gyeo-re

Han Gyeo-re

Han Gyeo-re

Han Gyeo-re

Han Gyeo-re

Han Gyeo-re

Han Gyeo-re

Yoo Ji-won

Kim Ji-young

Lee Ju-mi

Lee Ju-mi

Lee Ju-mi

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-young

Han Gyeo-re

Han Gyeo-re

Shin Min-gyu

Shin Min-gyu

Shin Min-gyu

Han Gyeo-re

Shin Min-gyu

Shin Min-gyu

Shin Min-gyu

Shin Min-gyu

Lee Hu-shin

Shin Min-gyu

Han Gyeo-re

Han Gyeo-re

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-young

Lee Ju-mi

Lee Ju-mi

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-young

Lee Ju-mi

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-min

Yoo Ji-won

Yoo Ji-won

Yoo Ji-won

Lee Hu-shin

Yoo Ji-won

Lee Hu-shin

Lee Hu-shin

Lee Hu-shin

Lee Hu-shin

Lee Hu-shin

Lee Hu-shin

Lee Hu-shin

Lee Hu-shin

Lee Hu-shin

Not yet on the house

Lee Ju-mi

Kim Ji-min

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-min

Kim Ji-min

Kim Ji-min

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-young

Kim Ji-min

Kim Ji-young

Yoo Yi-soo

Not yet on the house

Lee Hu-shin

Shin Min-gyu

Shin Min-gyu

Shin Min-gyu

Shin Min-gyu

Shin Min-gyu

Shin Min-gyu

Shin Min-gyu

Final Results

Confession Result

Participants
Han Gyeo-re	↔	Kim Ji-young
Shin Min-gyu	↔	Yoo Yi-soo
Yoo Ji-won	→	Kim Ji-young
Lee Hu-shin	→	Kim Ji-young
Lee Ju-mi	→	Han Gyeo-re
Kim Ji-min	→	Lee Hu-shin

Aftermath

Seo Joo-won from Season 1 got married in 2018 to YouTuber Aori (Kim Min-young) and got divorced in 2022.

Kim Do-gyun from Season 2 got married in 2022 to a non-celebrity who is a yoga instructor. Im Hyun-joo is dating actor Kwak Si-yang.

Park Ji-hyun from Season 3 got married in 2023 to a non-celebrity who is a businessman.

Shin Min-gyu and Yoo Yi-soo from Season 4 dated between April 2023 until late 2024.

Controversies

Season 1

In 2019, Heart Signal cast member Kang Sung-wook was sentenced to five years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman in August 2017. Fellow cast member Jang Cheon reportedly initially served as Kang's lawyer in the case but resigned after six days.^[19] Kang's sentence was reduced to 30 months in prison in 2020.^[20]

Season 2

Heart Signal 2 cast member Kim Hyun-woo was arrested for drunk driving in April 2018 while the show was airing.^[21]

Season 3

After the cast members of Heart Signal 3 were publicly announced, a woman accused cast member Lee Ga-heun of bullying classmates. Cast member Cheon An-na was also accused of bullying. The show's producers denied the allegations.^[22]

While the show was airing, another woman told the media that cast member Kim Kang-yeol had kicked her in the stomach at a nightclub in January 2017. Kim admitted to the incident and apologized on social media.^[23]

In May 2023, Yongsan Police Station in Seoul applied for an arrest warrant for Seo Min-jae on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act. This suspicion was raised when Seo Min-jae made an SNS post revealing that she and her then boyfriend, Nam Tae-hyun, took methamphetamine in August 2022. In September 2022, the police finally collected the hair and urine of Seo Min-jae and Nam Tae-hyun, who were suspected of violating the Narcotics Control Act, and requested an appraisal from the National Institute of Scientific Investigation (NFS).^[24]