Youn’s Kitchen 3: Park Seo-joon in discussions to return for the new season

Park Seo-joon and Jung Yu-mi are currently in discussions to return to Youn's Kitchen. On October 27, 2022, Star News reported that the celebrity reality show was preparing to film a new season in December 2022.

Responding to the reports, tvN, the broadcasting network of Youn's Kitchen, shared a vague statement. It said:

“Na Young-suk PD (producing director) is preparing a program about running a restaurant overseas.”

There was no mention of the show's name or release date. It was also stated that the show was still in the initial stages of preparations. Despite the lack of details, the synopsis sounds similar to that of Youn's Kitchen. The show features celebrities operating pop-up restaurants in foreign locations.

Additionally, Youn's Kitchen has two directors, Na Young-suk and Lee Jin-joo. The director's name and the show's concept point towards the return of the beloved show.

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Youn's Kitchen new season reportedly starts production in December with Park Seo-joon

Youn's Kitchen is a popular reality-variety show in which celebrities live the life of a pop-up restaurant team. As a part of the format, the team hosts foreigners in different places. The show began in 2017 with Youn Yuh-jung, Shin Goo, Lee Seo-jin, and Jung Yu-mi, catering to locals in Bali, Indonesia.

Since then, Youn's Kitchen has had a sequel in 2018 and a spin-off (Youn's Stay) in 2021, both starring Park Seo-joon. As per media reports, Season 3 will start filming in early December, and Park Seo-joon and Jung Yu-mi have been roped in for the show. The Itaewon Class actor's agency, Awesome Ent. shared:

“It is true a discussion with the production team of ‘Youn’s Kitchen’ took place, but there is nothing established yet.”

Jung Yu-mi's agency, Management SOOP, also gave a similar statement.

While Season 1 took the celebrities and viewers to Bali, Season 2 took them to a restaurant in Tenerife, Spain. The show's extreme popularity was apparent through the numbers it generated. Season 1 had an average viewership rating of 14.1%, as per Nielsen Korea. Season 2 achieved greater figures, with 16% viewership on average.

However, COVID led to the cancelation of other potential seasons since foreign travel was restricted. Keeping up with the hype, tvN then released a spin-off program, Youn's Stay, starring the cast of season 2 along with Choi Woo-shik in South Korea.

With COVID restrictions lifted worldwide, it seems plausible that the production company would want to bring back the popular reality show. The new season is also expected to be a success like the previous ones, as the world's viewing habits have changed drastically in the past couple of years.

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In other news, South Korea's heartthrob Park Seo-joon will be seen in a Marvel movie next year. The actor was cast in The Marvels (or Captain Marvel 2), scheduled for release in July 2023. He is rumored to be playing Noh-Varr, aka Marvel Boy.