'Three Meals a Day' goes back to basics

Aug 9, 2019

Official poster for Korean reality show "Three Meals a Day: Mountain Village"

"Three Meals a Day" is back. The reality show which features three celebrities who spend time in the countryside and try living a self-sufficient lifestyle returned to the small screen on Friday. For this season, "Three Meals a Day: Mountain Village," three actresses ― Yoon Se-ah and Yum Jung-Ah from television drama "Sky Castle," with Park So-dam from film "Parasite" ― were picked to experience rural life.

At a press conference held at Stanford Hotel in Seoul, Thursday, two producers ― Yang Seul-gi and Na Young-seok ― also joined the three actresses, fully dressed up in contrast to the simple and comfortable life that was shown in the preview.

The show has returned after two years, after airing seven seasons for three years since 2014.

"Like everybody else, one of our concerns was what can we show more than this. While preparing for this new season, we kept talking about missing the nature and greenery," producer Na said. Na added that if they were feeling nostalgic about nature, the viewers would too.

From left to right, Yoon Se-ah, Yum Jeong-ah, and Park So-dam pose in front of the camera at production presentation for 'Three Meals a Day' held at Stanford Hotel, Seoul, Thursday.

When a reporter referred to the transformation of the show over time, progressing from more of a challenge to more of a cooking show, producer Yang expressed a desire to go back to basics. "As the show has focused on cooking, the food has become more complex and more interesting but there were times I missed the earlier seasons for the way that they showed the challenges and felt fresh. Because of that feeling, we wanted to focus on the effort that went into getting the ingredients," she said.

"These actresses do not feel confident about cooking, but they were passionate about it and loved living a country life. So we thought viewers could watch the process of them getting better each time."

But why these three actresses? Na said it was a coincidence that he picked Yum, because many people around him always talked about her. For the other two actresses, who are sub-characters in the show, Yoon is a very close friend of Yum and Park is her favorite junior.

"In previous seasons I worked with Yoo Hae-jin and Lee Seo-jin. Because they are also actors, they talk a lot about dramas and films, and every time we talked, they mentioned Yum a lot. So when I was planning for this series, she just popped into my head and so I asked her," Na said.

The actresses also welcomed the request as all of them were great fans of Na's reality shows.

"I was always so curious about living in the country side," Yoon said.

Park also showed great affection toward the show. "I am also a big fan of Na. But most of all, I grew up with my grandmother in Gangwon Province, which left me with wonderful memories, so I was really attracted to this show when it was first suggested," she said.

When asked about anecdotes that happened while filming, the actresses found very hard picking just one. "The day goes so fast because we think about how to make the next meal as soon as we clear up one," Yum said.

A scene from Korean reality show 'Three Meals a Day,' which will be aired from this Friday 9:10p.m.

"One time I found a bug on my body while sleeping. I just grabbed it in my sleep and saw a black bug with lot of legs like a centipede. I instantly put it in a plastic bag and went back to sleep," Yoon said laughing. "And that was the moment I thought I'd really got used to this life."

Park said, "After filming on set, I go back to my room and think about how I spent the day. When I look back, I feel I have lived well with an energy that I'd never felt before. I really want to see myself on screen and see what we ate and how we ate it."

"The day goes so fast because we are focusing on each and every moment. It really clears my head. I felt thankful to the people who cooked for me. Rather than talking about specific anecdotes, we all felt appreciation from the little things," Yoon said.

"Three Meals a Day" is a Korean reality show which will be aired on tvN every Friday from 9:10 p.m. The first guest to visit this house in Jeongseon County, Gangwon Province will be top actor Jung Woo-sung.

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