'I'm Solo' Season 33 cast still single after all — but Gwangsu's glow-up turns heads

The 33rd season of "I'm Solo" — a special edition featuring participants who have never been in a relationship — has wrapped up, with all cast members revealing they are still single. Their noticeably changed appearances have also become a talking point.

The ENA and SBS Plus matchmaking reality show aired the final episode of its 33rd season on Wednesday.

The Season 33 cast, made up of men and women who had never dated, struggled to find a romantic connection and had difficulty reviving any spark for the opposite sex.

Only toward the end of the broadcast did Yeongho and Sunja, and Yeongcheol and Jeongsuk, choose each other as their final picks, raising hopes that they might finally leave their lifelong-single status behind.

But shortly after the episode aired, a live broadcast on the YouTube channel Chon-jang Entertainment revealed that even those two couples had broken up.

Yeongho and Sunja did begin dating after the show, but after meeting three or four times over about a month, they found they were incompatible and parted ways.

Yeongcheol and Jeongsuk never became a couple. Yeongcheol said that, having never dated before, he was eager to move the relationship forward quickly after making his final choice — and the two did go on a date — but things ultimately did not develop into a romance.

All cast members, including those two couples, confirmed they remain single — news that left viewers somber.

The live broadcast also drew attention for how different several cast members looked compared to their on-screen appearances.

Particularly striking was the transformation of Gwangsu, a Grade 5 civil servant at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport who had already made headlines during the season when the minister recorded a video message cheering him on. On the show, Gwangsu appeared with no styling whatsoever — endearing and wholesome, but not especially striking as a romantic prospect, viewers said. In the live broadcast, however, he parted his hair to the side to reveal his forehead, pulling off a polished look without going overboard.

Gwangsu was not alone in turning heads — Sangcheol and Hyeonsuk also drew notice for looking far more refined than they had on the show.

Online commenters reacted with remarks such as "Why didn't you show up on the actual broadcast looking like this?", "I hope you find someone wonderful" and "The problem is you can't keep it up."