Move over, K-drama, fans of Korean content are now losing sleep over the staggered release of the Netflix dating show, Singles’ Inferno. The finale was released on 10 February just days before Valentine’s Day.
In a world of Love Island and Love is Blind-esque dating reality shows with their country-specific instalments, Single’s Inferno is a modest, “cutesy” version of Korean singles trying to find “the one”.
The other show that had K-content fans hooked all over the world is Culinary Class Wars, another Netflix offering. It is a brutal competition where eliminations are clinical, and there is absolutely no room for error in front of the celebrity judges: Chef Ahn Sung-jae of Mosu Seoul, South Korea’s only Michelin three-star restaurant and businessman Paik Jong-won.
K-dramas are for the soul, but Culinary Class Wars and Single’s Inferno are for the adrenaline rush junkies.
It was the first non-English show on the platform to top global charts in its category for three consecutive weeks with its first season in 2024. The second season released in December 2025 added a few more twists. India was one of the countries where it quickly climbed the streaming platform’s most-watched list.
After all, Indians are seasoned viewers of cooking shows, thanks to MasterChef. With anything “K” prefixed winning the content game at the moment, the culinary show picked up fans in the country with ease.
Unlike most Indian reality shows, what separates Culinary Class Wars is that no one is crying or talking about their life struggles while sentimental music plays in the background. It is as no-nonsense as it gets, and that’s precisely the appeal.
The show’s format is a large-scale culinary competition spanning 12 episodes where chefs showcase their cooking skills. The series’ unique format pitting 80 self-taught, passionate black spoon chefs against 20 elite white spoon chefs with Michelin stars and fame captured both hearts and appetites around the world. Black Spoons are essentially the underdogs, who are never referred to by their real name. They get to choose a nickname each, and only in the finale are their real names revealed, if they manage to reach that far.
The show follows only their skills in the kitchen and not the contestants’ sob stories or families. The focus is on what happens in the kitchen and the innovations presented. The dramatic moments are reserved for when someone creates a dish that stuns everyone. Even the judges do not keep giving speeches, unlike in MasterChef India. Culinary Class Wars is pure food as opposed to the histrionics of MasterChef India.
But perhaps the real clincher is that the drama in these “reality” shows feels more real than in K-dramas, even if they are scripted. While we swoon over K-drama boyfriends (or girlfriends), it feels nice to take a break and look at other content.
And isn’t that why India is one of the leading viewers of Korean content? We want more variety.
Also Read: Let me explain the K-drama addiction. I, too, am an addict
A “spicy” inferno
Single’s Inferno has 15 contestants, who stay on an island called Inferno, and are occasionally paired up together through games to go on dates to “Paradise”.
From a model, actor, marketing consultant and an athlete, the show’s contest base has a variety not often spotted in most dating shows. There are no ugly fights, profanities or even physical intimacy. It is almost in contrast with the romance of K-dramas, which are meant to sweep one off their feet or the forced romance of the Indian reality TV show Splitsvilla.
While the USP of K-dramas is dreamy romance, there is clearly a rising pressure to also show some “spicy” moments.
In the fifth instalment of the show, the makers have also stepped it up, with “shocking” twists of contestants changing their minds at the last minute. With one contestant, Choi Mina Sue, almost emerging as a villain with her seemingly flippant attitude towards the men who are vying for her attention.
After all, it is competing with the likes of Love Island, where people drop clothes and scandals as if they are going out of style.
Both the US and the UK versions of Love Island thrive on scandals, cliffhangers, and betrayal. Couples in the Western shows are switching up partners in every other episode, driven by the idea of being so attracted to another that they break house rules and end up having sex. Whereas Single’s Inferno remains deeply rooted in South Korean society and culture, it emphasises looks but also highlights the personalities and careers of its participants. Scandal is not the defining factor of the dating show.
And while some critics are quick to suggest that the show could use some diversity, maybe show different body types or even skin colour. But that is probably asking too much from reality TV.
Unlike most dating shows, Single’s Inferno has a “panel” of commentators, who watch the episodes and try to decode and comment on the ongoings in the show. One of the panellists, Dex, is also a former Single’s Inferno contestant and gives an “insider’s take” on the ongoings.
The panellists give a sense of community and add a layer of “authenticity”, which is usually absent in such shows. Their reactions and responses often mirror the audience’s, and it also creates a feeling of community watching and validates the “couch judgment” that we watch reality shows for.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)