Blackpink’s Jennie returns to variety TV as secret Santa in The Secret Friends Club

SEOUL – Amid a growing push to deepen fan engagement by sharing glimpses of stars’ everyday lives, South Korea’s top celebrities are increasingly turning to unscripted television.

Jennie of K-pop girl group Blackpink will make her variety show return on Feb 1 with South Korean broadcaster MBC’s The Secret Friends Club, a reality format built around anonymous gift-giving.

The series centres on participants who deliver surprise presents without revealing their identities. The inaugural line-up comprises Jennie, YouTuber Dex of Single’s Inferno (2021 to present) fame, former mixed martial artist and Physical: 100 star (2023) Choo Sung-hoon, entertainer Noh Hong-chul and actress Lee Soo-ji.

The show opens with an individual competition that reimagines the secret Santa gift exchange. In a fun battle of wits where everyone tries to hide his or her identity, the members secretly prepare and deliver gifts for one another.

Following the individual round, the game format shifts from solo play to collective action, where together as a team, the members embark on an undercover mission to deliver surprise gifts to as many people as possible.

Jennie’s previous variety shows were Village Survival, The Eight (2018), Apartment 404 (2024) and My Name Is Gabriel (2024).

The 30-year-old is also holding a photo exhibition titled J2NNI5 in Seoul from Jan 16 to 29, where several never-before-seen photographs capturing her candid moments will be on display.

Fans of Blackpink can look forward to the quartet’s new album, Deadline, that will be released on Feb 27. It serves as the grand finale of their Deadline world tour that started in July 2025, and is expected to include the hit single Jump, which dropped in July.

Meanwhile, K-drama star Park Bo-gum, who recently enthralled global audiences with his performance as Gwan-sik in Netflix’s hit series When Life Gives You Tangerines (2025), is stepping into an entirely different role: a barber.

The Village Barber follows him as he operates a pop-up hair salon in a remote rural village together with his actor friends Lee Sang-yi and Kwak Dong-yeon. Park previously earned a national barber’s licence during his military service and cut the hair of fellow soldiers.

The trio reportedly spent nearly a year preparing for The Village Barber, overseeing everything from scouting the location to renovating and designing the interior. The show will premiere on South Korean cable channel tvN on Jan 30 and will also be streamed on HBO Max.

Then there is actor Lee Chae-min, who will headline Netflix’s Take A Hike!. The reality adventure follows four celebrities, who have zero interest in hiking, as they embark on an epic mid-winter journey across the snow-capped mountains of South Korea.

Produced by Na Young-seok, one of South Korea’s most influential variety show creators, the unscripted series, currently in production, will be a charming test of grit, teamwork and good humour.

Lee gained global attention for his roles in Bon Appetit, Your Majesty (2025) and Cashero (2025). He is joined by an eclectic team consisting of K-pop group AllDay Project’s Tarzzan, Dowoon from pop-rock band Day6, and Car, the Garden, an indie singer who recently found a wider audience through his comedic presence on YouTube. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK