Yoo Jae suk

Early life and education

Born on August 14, 1972 in Seoul, South Korea, Yoo is the eldest of three siblings. He attended Seoul Institute of the Arts, but was unable to graduate due to his busy schedule as an up-and-coming comedian.

Beginnings

Yoo's television debut was on the KBS Comedian Festival (for college students) in 1991, where he performed a parody of a commercial with Choi Seung-gyung (Hangul: 최승경). Him dancing to a cover of the song "Step by Step" by New Kids on the Block is also one of his early memorable moments. In 2002, after nine hard years as a relatively unknown comedian, thanks to a recommendation by Choi Jin-sil, he hosted a program called Live and Enjoy Together (Hangul: 동거동락). The program became instantly popular and since then Yoo began to host many other variety programs. He then rose to prominence when he co-hosted a program called The Crash of MCs (Hangul: MC 대격돌 – 공포의 쿵쿵따) with Kang Ho-dong, Lee Hwi-jae and Kim Han-seok (Hangul: 김한석).

His first Grand Prize award was for a popular program called Happy Together Friends. The show's concept was for TV personalities to try to find their school friends (five of them) out of many (false friends) who are sitting behind a desk. The show was intended to bring back nostalgic memories about one's days in school. This Grand Prize was especially memorable, not just because it was Yoo's first, but because it was from the broadcasting station where he made his debut.

X-Man

He later went on to host the show X-Man, which soon grew to be one of the most popular and most viewed shows in Korea. During that time, he became increasingly popular and many programs began to nickname Yoo as the "Nation's MC." Then Yoo went on to host various shows, New X-Man, Old TV (in which guests would re-enact classic TV serials), and Haja! Go! (Let's Do It) for SBS, which were shortly canceled due to low ratings on Sunday evenings. However, X-Man has found success in international syndication.

Infinite Challenge

Yoo is a part of the cast of the top-rated comedy variety program Infinite Challenge (Hangul: 무한도전) with Jeong Hyeong Don and Noh Hong Chul. He is the host-in-chief since 2005 and one of the program's founding members. The program wasn't popular when it first aired and its average ratings were low (roughly 5 percent). After Kim Tae-ho took a role as new PD, the program underwent several changes both in its concept and the cast. New members such as Park Myeong-su, Haha, and Jeong Jun-ha were added to the cast of Infinite Challenge in 2006. By the time season 3 of the show aired in 2006, the concept and format of "variety & reality program" became very popular, and Infinite Challenge became the forerunner of many programs that followed with the same or similar format. Since December 2, 2006, the program has received the highest ratings of prime-time lineups for Saturday evening.

Infinite Challenge is seen as Yoo's favorite and best program as not only did he meet his wife, Na Kyung-eun (Hangul: 나경은) during season 2, but he was able to gain even more popularity due the rising popularity of the show and its significant effect on the general public. He ended up winning a total of six Grand Prizes (2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2016) with the program. His love for this program was reflected during 1-on-1 talk with fellow co-host, Jeong Hyeong-don, on "Pause" special (S04E300) that aired on October 20, 2012. He said "I think my life on television and variety shows will be tied to the fate of Infinite Challenge." and "When will we ever get to do another program like this? No matter how hard you try, it's going to be impossible to do another film like this."

Talk shows

Yoo also co-hosts Come to Play (Hangul: 놀러와) with Kim Won-hee and Happy Together Season 3 (Hangul: 해피 투게더 3) with Park Myeong-su, Park Mi-sun and Shin Bong-sun. Yoo hosted these talk shows for a long period of time (both over 5 years), and the ratings have been consistently high throughout his tenure. Although Happy Together is still broadcasting, Come to Play was cancelled in 2012. Yoo tries his best to differentiate his hosting styles, both based on who his guests are and on their current situation.

Good Sunday Variety Programs: Family Outing and Running Man

After those replacement shows on SBS, on June 15, 2008, Yoo became the main host of Family Outing (Hangul: 패밀리가 떴다) as a part of SBS's Good Sunday lineup. Together with Lee Hyori, Yoon Jong-shin, Kim Su-ro, Lee Chun-hee, Kang Dae-sung, Park Ye-jin and Kim Jong-kook (since episode 19), they made up the "family" (cast members) of the show. Family Outing has become one of the top-rated shows in Korea, consistently achieving the highest ratings for the Sunday mid-afternoon time-slot, and has gained online popularity among Hallyu fans.

Since July 11, 2010, Yoo has hosted the urban action variety Running Man together with fellow Infinite Challenge member, Haha, and other entertainers such as Ji Suk-jin, Kim Jong-kook, Leessang's Gary (who left since episode 324 to focus on his music career), Song Ji-hyo, Lee Kwang-soo, Song Joong-ki (who left since episode 41 to focus on his acting career) and Lizzy of After School (who left for unknown reasons). Although the program did not have a good start in ratings, it later became popular, and has a consistent international fanbase to this day.

Guest appearances and collaborations

In 2012, Yoo and fellow hosts of Infinite Challenge, Noh Hong-chul and Haha, appeared in the music video for Psy's hit single "Gangnam Style". In the video, he was reprising the retro disco dancing character he created for the mock-band "Sagging Snail" in Infinite Challenge's West Coast Highway Music Festival special where Psy also appeared. Together with the cast of Infinite Challenge, Yoo once again appeared in Psy's follow-up single, "Gentleman".

On July 15, 2015, Yoo signed an exclusive contract with FNC Entertainment after having been without an agency for about 5 years. In September 2015, he made a cameo appearance in the South Korean drama, My Daughter, Geum Sa-wol.

From 2015 to 2016, Yoo hosted the program Two Yoo Project Sugar Man together with You Hee-yeol. The programs focus on remaking hit songs from singers who has disappeared from the public eye.

In 2016, Yoo Jae-suk collaborated with EXO for SM Station single named "Dancing King", which is also a collaboration for Infinite Challenge. He performed with them at EXO's EXO Planet #3 - EXO'rDIUM concert in Bangkok.

In the media

Yoo has been dubbed "the nation's MC" to his broad appeal and popularity with a wide demographic of viewers. He is also nicknamed "The Grasshopper", due to his early appearances where he dressed as a grasshopper.

Known as one of the most popular and beloved television personalities in Korea, Yoo has consistently being picked as a role model by fellow entertainers as well as the citizens of Korea. He is also known for his philanthropy.

Yoo is the first television host to have his own wax figure, displayed at the Grevin Seoul Museum.

Personal life

On July 6, 2008, Yoo married MBC announcer, Na Kyung-eun (Hangul: 나경은), who worked with him on the show Infinite Challenge. Yoo and his wife welcomed their first child, a son, Yoo Ji-ho, on May 1, 2010.

Television host

Discography