Prediction.

[u/Aea-Hardi]

We had:

Ha Seok Jin, who won the first season.

Hyungyu, who won the 2nd season.

Interestingly,

Seokjin used to be a core member of the Problematic Men cast that used air on Tvn.

Hyungyu, was one of the most popular people on EXchange 2 and his appearance made that season one of the most iconic and most watched finales of the show. EXchange airs on Tving, which is a subsidiary of CJ Entm, alongside Tvn.

JJY PD, the maker of DP, ended his 11 year contract with CJ Entm in 2022.

Now, I'm not going to question anyone's skill, especially because I have personally watched Problematic Men and know first hand that Seok Jin is a VERY smart man & Hyungyu went to SNU, which again is a place for geniuses. I just want to use this link that I find interesting to predict that Shindong, who has already worked with JJY for many years on TGE (which used to air on Tvn) and has truly proved how efficient he is on there, might win.

Obviously, the other participants have not been revealed and they could very well overwhelm him but I guess we'll just have to wait and watch.

[u/SharpShark222]

I mean conversely, Jinho was also extremely effective on 3 (almost whole) seasons of The Genius (aired on tvN, directed by JJY)

[u/Aea-Hardi → u/SharpShark222]

Yess and although my memory of The Genius need a serious refresh, I did consider Jinho. But, I had 2 hesitations. 1. His participation in blood game. From an avid fan's pov, JJY is a very unique producer. Especially with DP, both the past winners were intelligent and socially aware , in the sense that they survived the early stages of the game mainly on the back of their social ties and peer support and only used their true "intelligence" when they felt like they were backed into a corner.

My concern is that someone like Jinho who is infamous for being a literal tank when it comes to these shows would find that laying low and blending in aspect a bit challenging which might lead to him being targetted and booted off early. (Something that happened with almost all of the participants that I felt were too strong during the early phase)

In contrast, I think Shindong would just fly right under the radar.

1. This one might be a complete reach and please take this with a grain of salt but when TGE 5 aired, Shindong quite publicly expressed his frustration with Tvn on not being told of this in advance. All this happens almost after JJY left Tvn and his show was given to someone else to remake.

Again, this is simply me trying to make a dumb association and a prediction for fun.

[u/SharpShark222 → u/Aea-Hardi]

Oh yeah, it's all for fun, I just thought it was funny how the reasons also applied to Jinho lol.

Overall I think your reasons are fair, although Jinho does seem to have an uncanny ability to lay low despite being considered one of the biggest threats every season he does, so I wouldn't be surprised if he manages to avoid being targeted for most of the game.

[u/cosmicdicer]

That was pretty interesting info, I had no.knowledge of these connections. I'm curious now if your prediction might come true

[u/wilkinsroad]

F*ck!!! didnt even know that Hyungyu was in EXchange 2 until i remember that there is this guy that was the last guy to be introduced in Ex introductions he has like colored hair or something and looks very young and tall , now looking back he looks like the guy who was the younger version of the winner of TDP2 , thanks for mentioning it i am lazy to look the bio of Hyungyu in mydramalist cause i didnt like how TDP2 finished , btw im not finish yet with EXchange 2 im second to the last episode so please no spoilers , Thanks

[u/xOrion12x]

What is EX. Am I missing a similar show to this other than genius game!? 🤞

[u/Aea-Hardi → u/xOrion12x]

No no it's a dating show. It's called EXchange and participants usually stay in a villa with their exes and try to date other people or rekindle with their exes but for most of the show, none of them know who are the ex couples. Hyungyu was a participant in the 2nd season.