The Dark Side Of Korea’s Controversial Hidden Camera Prank Show

From Running Man to We Got Married, Korean variety shows have been entertaining guests and viewers alike for decades. One hidden camera show, however, ended after just two months.

Promotional image for “Humiliating Flower Boys” | Mnet

Humiliating Flower Boys (also known as Shame! Along the Handsome Men) was a Korean variety show that aired on Mnet from December 26, 2007 to February 20, 2008. The show aimed to embarrass “flower boys” (handsome male guests) by placing them in uncomfortable situations through extreme pranks. The female audience would vote before the hidden camera prank to rank the guests based on their visuals. Then, after the prank, they would vote again to choose which guest handled the prank best. The guest with the most points was crowned the winner.

Audience members with the host, Epik High’s Mithra Jin | Mnet

Some of the guests who appeared on the show went on to become famous Korean celebrities, including Song Joong Ki, who was a university student at the time, and former DMTN member Simon Jakops, who was a trainee when he appeared on the show. Simon went on to become the CEO of XGALX, the agency behind the girl group XG.

Song Joong Ki | Netflix

All the male guests were subjected to pranks that aimed to frighten and humiliate them. Song Joong Ki, for example, was trapped in an elevator in Episode 3 with a woman who harassed him, tried to feed him, then pretended to urinate in front of him. The actress dipped her hand into her “urine” (water from a water bottle) and repeatedly tried to touch him.

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The prank ended with Song trying to help the actress after the staff pumped smoke into the elevator, and she pretended to pass out. In one partially obscured clip, he appears to be giving her CPR before help arrives.

| Mnet

BLOCK B‘s Jaehyo experienced a cab ride from hell when he appeared on the show in Episode 5. After the cab driver set the scene by telling Jaehyo ghost stories, a woman suddenly opened the cab’s door and began screaming and hitting Jaehyo. After this, the staff tied a rope to a dummy and dropped it from an overpass as the cab drove below, terrifying him.

A woman with a fake baby covered in fake blood climbed into the cab next, only to be dragged out by a man who tried to get into the car to attack Jaehyo. The prank ended after the cab simulated a fatal collision by crashing through a fake wall. The cab driver pretended to be dead.

| Mnet

In one of the show’s most disturbing episodes, trainee Simon Jakops was tricked into thinking a car full of strange men would be taking him to meet a professional musician. The men kidnapped him and tied him up for their “boss,” an actress who pretended to be an obsessive stalker.

Simon Jakops (center) with two men acting as kidnappers

During the fake kidnapping, the actress taunted and touched Simon, forced him to kiss her…

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…and held a fake gun to his head.

| Mnet

Unfortunately, Simon wasn’t the only “flower boy” to be “kidnapped” on the show. Other guests were also kidnapped, harassed, subjected to a fake police interrogation, groped by an bathrobe-wearing actor who played a friend’s perverted father, served “food” that was still alive, and more.

Humiliating Flower Boys ended after eight episodes, but at the time Production Director Kim Tae Eun expressed interest in creating a Season 2 for “flower girls.”

Read more about Simon’s experience here:

The K-Pop Idol Who Was Kidnapped And Sexually Assaulted For A Hidden Camera Prank