‘Seungri Dating Rumors’ Yoo Hye-won Reveals Her Love Story “Dated for 6 Years, Almost Got Married”
The fifth episode of Mnet’s “Couple Palace 2”, which aired on March 5th, depicted the stories of 33 single men and women who had completed the initial exploration phase and officially entered the “Palace Week” cohabitation stage.
On this day, Hwang Jae-geun became the most popular male participant after receiving votes in the “New Interest Vote” from three female contestants: VIP banker contestant No.23 Seo Jin-joo, beauty creator contestant No.3 Choi Seo-hee and gayageum player contestant No.4 Kim Jena.
With votes pouring in for Hwang Jae-geun, it was Yoo Hye-won’s turn to choose. Although she had previously rejected Hwang Jae-geun’s couple proposal during the matching ceremony, this time, she chose him, revealing her change of heart.
Surprised by her decision, Hwang Jae-geun said “Are you just playing with me? I really don’t know what’s on your mind” though he couldn’t hide his delighted smile.
Later, contestant No.26 Lee Jung-won, a patent attorney and lawyer, asked Yoo Hye-won why she had rejected Hwang Jae-geun at the Palace Week matching ceremony.
Yoo Hye-won confessed, “Honestly, I thought about it a thousand times. Everyone has their worries, but I have a personal story that made me agonize over it even more. I was afraid that coming here with this mindset would be a burden on others.”
In a follow-up interview, she explained further, “When I give my heart, I give it all. That’s why I was so indecisive.“
Hwang Jae-geun then asked her, “Do you have more courage now?” But Lee Jung-won intervened, advising, “Don’t ask for an answer right now—test her feelings for the next three days.”
In an interview with the production team, Hwang Jae-geun expressed his understanding, “In a way, I felt that she wasn’t putting on an act. I think she was just being honest with herself at that moment.”
Meanwhile, when contestant No.9 Oh Shin-da, an overseas-educated employee at company “S”, asked Yoo Hye-won about her past relationships, she revealed, “I had a boyfriend for six years, and I was the one who confessed first. We even met each other’s parents, and we almost got married. But due to certain circumstances, we had to break up.“
During this time, contestant No.15 Min Dong-sung, a beauty entrepreneur, mentioned rumors about Yoo Hye-won in the single zone lounge. He told the other male contestants, “(Contestant No.19, Yoo Hye-won) is quite famous, but there are some bad rumors about her. There are two articles about it.”
He then directly referenced her past dating rumors, “One was with XX, and the other was with a basketball player.” This was a clear allusion to her rumored relationships with former BIGBANG member Seungri and basketball player Heo Ung.
Hearing this, contestant No.8 Lee Yoon-seo, a New Zealand businessman, offered additional context, “It’s not that she was involved in a scandal herself, but there was an incident involving her partner’s ex-girlfriend, which made it a bigger issue.“
In an interview with the production team, Yoo Hye-won acknowledged that she was aware of the circulating rumors within the show, saying, “I think the other contestants have read those articles. They know about them but don’t bring them up to me. It was really uncomfortable.”