The cast of Single’s Inferno 5 became the center of attention just under 72 hours after its premiere. Choi Mina Sue faced a “storm of criticism” on her personal Instagram account, and Lee Sung Hun was accused of “betrayal.” Four contestants “locked” their social media accounts to avoid being “attacked” because of the developments on the dating show.

Three days after Single’s Inferno 5 aired, the number of visits to the contestants’ SNS (social media accounts) increased dramatically. Fans paid close attention to behind-the-scenes information such as the contestants’ current relationships, personal lives, and work.

Song Seung Il was the brightest star of the cast, recording a 6.3-fold increase in followers in just 4 days after the show aired. Viewers flooded his old posts with likes, praising the model’s attractive appearance.A short 8-second video capturing Seung Il’s playful Gen Z-style poses with fans has garnered over 2.8 million views and 110,000 likes on Instagram after just one day of being posted.

Leading the pack of beauties is Kim Min Gee/Min Ji. The female athlete gained nearly 200,000 followers after 4 days of release, currently boasting 628,000 Instagram followers, maintaining her position as the most popular player of the season.

However, the “glamour” of Single’s Inferno also comes with many troubles. Among the 13 contestants, four names currently have their social media accounts temporarily “private”: Lim Su Been, Park Hee Sun, Shin Hyeon Woo, and Lee Sung Hun/Samuel Lee.

It is highly likely that in the upcoming episodes of the dating show, these contestants will take actions that could easily cause a public outcry. The decision to lock their social media accounts is seen as a way for the contestants to protect themselves from the audience’s outrage.

Among them, Lee Sung Hun/Samuel Lee’s actions attracted the most attention.

Lee Sung Hun/Samuel Lee had publicly dated Hena Yang, a TikToker with over 1 million followers. Before the show aired, rumors surfaced on Reddit claiming he had cheated on his girlfriend. Hena also removed all content featuring him from her personal page after the show aired. Speculation about the infidelity allegations intensified after he was further exposed by influencer FlawlessKevin. Despite numerous explanations, the response from netizens was not very positive. Sung Hun reportedly deleted his Instagram account just one day after the premiere of Singles Inferno 5.

Choi Mina Sue received the most mixed reactions among the contestants after 4 episodes aired. The average number of comments on the beauty queen’s previous posts was only around 30. In her two most recent posts, the number of likes increased only slightly, but she recorded over 5000 new comments. 90% of those were heavily insulting remarks directed at Mina Sue because of the events in the show.

The issue of dating show contestants suffering cyberbullying has become an alarming problem behind the glamour of reality television. Viewers need to realize that the events on the show are just edited clips, intended to create suspense. They don’t entirely reflect an individual’s character. Viewers can express their opinions and show their frustration, but they need to maintain a civil attitude, avoiding insults and abusive language towards the contestants.