Made In Korea: The K-Pop Experience is a new six-part series following an aspiring British boyband as they undergo the intensive K-Pop training process in South Korea — but where most K-Pop superstars spend several years honing their talents before being let loose in the industry, the British hopefuls are being fast-tracked in just 100 days!
After being trained by world-class choreographers and vocal coaches, and mentored by some of the industry's most acclaimed starmakers, the boys are hoping to launch as a new boyband — Dear Alice — on the global stage. But will they emerge as the hottest new thing in pop music, or will they be on the first plane back home from Seoul?
Here's everything we know about the show so far...
Made In Korea: The K-Pop Experience release date
Made In Korea: The K-Pop Experience launches on Saturday August 17 at 5:15pm on BBC1 and will air weekly on Saturdays. New episodes will also be available weekly on BBC iPlayer.
Made In Korea: The K-Pop Experience band members
The five talented Brits hoping to secure stardom in Seoul are:
BLAISE
Name: Blaise Noon
Age: 19
From: London
Blaise is a Brit born in Belgium who moved to the UK when he was 14 to study Musical Theatre at the BRIT School in Croydon. He grew up acting, singing and dancing, and is the youngest of four siblings who are all performers — some professionally, and others just for fun.
DEXTER
Name: Dexter Greenwood
Age: 22
From: London
Dexter has been singing and dancing from a young age, taking after-school classes at D&B Academy of Performing Arts from the age of 14 to 18, after which he enrolled in a three-year diploma course at D&B, graduating in June 2023. Dexter has dreamed of being in a boyband ever since he was young, so this is very much a dream come true for him!
JAMES
Name: James Sharp
Age: 23
From: Huddersfield
James plays many instruments, and has been writing and producing his own songs since he was 15. He's always been passionate about music and dance, and appeared as a dancer in the film of Everybody's Talking About Jamie. You may also recognise him from TikTok, where he and his identical twin Lewis have 5.5 million followers on their SHARPTWINS page.
OLLY
Name: Olly Quinn
Age: 20
From: Sunderland
Olly has been dancing, singing and acting as long as he can remember, and attended Durham Chorister School between the ages of 7 and 12. He graduated in 2023 from Bird College with a Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in Musical Theatre. Before joining the band, he lived with his mum, nana and their dog, and he's hoping to make them all proud.
REESE
NAME: Reese Carter
AGE: 20
FROM: Cirencester
Reese's dad is a set designer who has worked on Harry Potter and James Bond films, as well as tours for Katy Perry and Robbie Williams, and Reese developed a love of the stage after seeing his dad at work. After graduating from Wilkes Academy of Performing Arts, Reece travelled the world as a performer on cruise ships — but he has left that behind to pursue his boyband dreams.
Who else is in Made In Korea: The K-Pop Experience?
The series will feature some of South Korea's top vocal coaches and choreographers, but the one person the boys all really want to impress is Hee Jun Yoon, the Director of the Artist Development Centre at Korean talent company SM Entertainment.
She has been instrumental in the creation and success of many highly-acclaimed K-Pop bands including SUPER JUNIOR, Girls' Generation, SHINee, (f)x, EXO, Red Velvet, NCT 127, NCT DREAM, WayV, aespa, RIIZE and NCT WISH. But will she be impressed with the boys from Britain?
Made In Korea: The K-Pop Experience episode guide
Episode 1 (August 17): The boys arrive in Seoul where they're shown to their home for the next 100 days, and — after a little bit of sightseeing — they get straight to work learning the vocals and choreography for their first song. But as they struggle to get to grips with both the notes and the steps, they realise they've got a lot of work ahead of them, and as their first evaluation with Hee Jun approaches, the nerves start to set in — especially after they're warned that she won't hesitate to send them home if they don't meet her expectations...
Is there a trailer for Made In Korea: The K-Pop Experience?
There is, and you can check it out below:
In the trailer, narrated by BBC Radio 1 DJ Vick Hope (who also narrates the series), we see the boys drilling their choreography in a studio while Dexter says that he's "been dreaming about doing this" and James says that he "wants to soak up everything I can". Vick narrates that they have "100 days in South Korea, learning from K-Pop's finest". Blaise admits that "the standards are going to be very high", and Vick asks "will they become the next big thing?" We see their choreographer telling them (in subtitled Korean) "when are you going to get this right?" as the boys keep practising, and we see the five boys suspended on a sky bridge high above the city of Seoul as Dexter shouts "I love you, Korea!", ending with a shot of the show's logo.
