Turning up the heat with Yeon Jung-hoon

Text/Photos: Lee Wei Lin
Video: Teng Siew Eng
Additional photos: KIX/KIX HD

If there is one thing actor Yeon Jung-hoon loves, (besides his wife, of course) it’s cars. The actor and avid car enthusiast has been a staple on hit reality series Top Gear Korea since its inauguration and is now well into its third season.

Juggling his marriage, acting schedule and hosting gig is no small feat for the 34-year-old, especially since his presence on the show as one of the three main emcees extends to behind-the-scenes work for the show.

Sitting down with xinmsn at the Shangri-la Hotel for a chat, Jung-Hoon expressed, “When the show was first conceptualized, I worried about it a lot, especially since I’m an ardent fan of the original Top Gear UK. I thought of how to portray the series and also myself as a host.” Explaining that the first season largely stayed true its roots, he went on to share, “There were many changes in the second season, one of which was to make it a bigger scale (series) with components that differ (from the original).”

With the presence of fast cars comes a definite level of risk, and the hosts were no exception to the rule. “I was involved in a couple of small accidents, but my co-host Kim Jin-pyo is more of a daredevil and his car actually overturned in one of the episodes.”

Chuckling, he went on to recall, “One of the funny incidents that happened was when the boat I was steering capsized when all three emcees were in it. One of them couldn’t swim so he was cursing a lot while he was in the water – as a result, the entire episode couldn’t be aired!”