'Goblin' Actor Lee Dong Wook Announced As New Host Of 'Produce X101'; Reality Show Kicks Off Filming
Korean actor Lee Dong Wook will take the role that Lee Seung Gi previously held. Lee has been named as the new host of the upcoming season of Mnet's survival reality show Produce X101.
According to Soompi, a representative from Mnet has confirmed that Lee will be the next host of the reality series. Lee Dong Wook joined the list of previous MCs of Produce 101.
Switch actor Jang Geun Suk hosted the pilot season in 2016 while singer-songwriter BoA took the job in Season 2. A Korean Odyssey actor Lee Seung Gi was the MC of the third season.
Lee currently stars in tvN's Touch Your Heart alongside his Goblin co-star Yoo In Na. In the romantic comedy series, Suzy's ex-boyfriend plays the role of a perfectionist lawyer Kwon Jung Rok who falls in love with popular actress Oh Yoon Seo (Yoo) when the latter got employed at the law firm as his secretary. Touch Your Heart airs on tvN on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. KST.
Meanwhile, Produce X101 has already begun filming on Monday. The fourth season of the Produce 101 series is set to premiere in the first half of this year. However, Mnet could not reveal the list of participants yet.
There were earlier rumors that some members of K-pop group VICTON will join Produce X101. Reports indicated that member Seungsik, Byungchan, and Sejun will join the show. The group's agency, Plan A Entertainment, VICTON's participation in the show is still under discussion and nothing has been confirmed yet.
Mnet made an announcement about a new season of Produce 101 in November 2018. In December, the show started recruiting individual male trainees with the potential to become the next idol group and follow the footsteps of I.O.I, Wanna One, and IZ*ONE.
The show also announced last month that the group that Produce X101 will assemble will be offered a longer contract compared to the previous groups. Apparently, they will promote together for a total of five years.
AllKpop quoted Mnet rep as saying that the members of the new group will focus all group activities for the first two and a half years. In the remaining two and a half years, they will be allowed to pursue individual activities freely.
Season 1 winners I.O.I had a one year contract. Wanna One was active for one and a half years while Season 3 winners IZ*ONE have two and a half years contract.