Could it be due to the interest in the romantic vibe with actor Hwang Dong-joo? Comedian Lee Young-ja has topped the brand reputation ranking for variety show personalities, surpassing the 'National MC' Yoo Jae-suk.
On the 5th, the Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute announced the results of a big data analysis of brand reputation for variety show personalities in April 2025, revealing that Lee Young-ja ranked first, Yoo Jae-suk second, and Kang Ho-dong third. Shin Dong-yup ranked fourth, while Kim Jong-kook came in fifth.
In relation to this, Goo Chang-hwan, director of the Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute, noted, "According to the brand big data analysis of variety show personalities for April 2025, Lee Young-ja's brand ranked first. Analyzing the brand category of variety show personalities, there was a 0.28% increase compared to 72,788,998 pieces of variety show personality brand big data from March. A detailed analysis shows that brand consumption dropped by 22.95%, brand issues dropped by 14.36%, brand communication rose by 10.65%, and brand diffusion increased by 1.70%."
Additionally, he explained, "The brand of Lee Young-ja, who ranked first in the brand reputation for variety show personalities in April 2025, showed high scores in link analysis with 'to confess, to invite, to donate,' and keyword analysis indicated high scores for 'Hwang Dong-joo, Omniscient Interfering View, love line.' The positive-negative ratio analysis of the Lee Young-ja brand was assessed at a positive rate of 93.58%."
In the ranking, Yoo Jae-suk had been the unassailable first place. The surprising upset turned heads. The graph released alongside showed that while there was an overwhelming gap for Yoo Jae-suk compared to those ranked below him, the gap between Yoo Jae-suk and Lee Young-ja was relatively small. Nevertheless, Lee Young-ja's reputation as a variety personality in first place drew unusual attention.
As can be seen from Lee Young-ja's keywords, 'confession' was the public's greatest interest surrounding her recent variety activities. This was due to the romantic atmosphere created with actor Hwang Dong-joo. Lee Young-ja and Hwang Dong-joo appeared together on KBS's variety show 'Seeking Old Meetings' (abbreviated as Omancu). Hwang Dong-joo actively approached Lee Young-ja, confessing his long-standing fan feelings, and as the two continued to engage, they garnered sustained attention.
The story of Hwang Dong-joo continues to surface on Lee Young-ja's personal YouTube channel whenever mentioned. Furthermore, Hwang Dong-joo appeared on Lee Young-ja's fixed variety show MBC 'Omniscient Interfering View,' contributing to the romantic atmosphere. Hwang Dong-joo calls Lee Young-ja by her real name, 'Lee Yu-mi,' saying "Yumi noona," resulting in ongoing support among fans for the 'YumiX Dong-joo' couple.
[Photo] OSEN DB, provided by MBC.
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