The "Grandpas Over Flowers" stars Lee Soon Jae, Shin Goo, Park Geun Hyung and Baek Il Sub are off to explore a new country. Accompanied by Hallyu star Choi Ji Woo and their usual baggage carrier, actor Lee Seo Jin, the grandpas will travel to Greece via Dubai.
It's the fourth edition of the tvN reality show and the grandpas show no signs of slowing down. They've been to France, Switzerland, Taiwan and Spain.
Choi Ji Woo, the star of "The Suspicious Housekeeper" and "Temptation," was chosen as this season's celebrity guest because she worked well with Lee Seo Jin on the reality show "Three Meals A Day."
Lee Seo Jin, who appeared in the weekend drama "Wonderful Days" and appears in the film "Love Forecast," said that Choi brought some much-needed skills to "Grandpas Over Flowers."
"I'm not an affectionate kind of guy, so if it weren't for Choi the five of us guys would've just sat around the desert looking at the sunset without saying anything," said Lee at the press conference for the show. "But Choi really perked up the ambiance and that was a relief."
Choi agreed and described herself as the "mood maker."
The oldest grandfather in the group, Lee Sung Jae, 79, said he was surprised at how much helpful research Choi did before the trip.
"Since we have Choi Ji Woo, we didn't proceed rashly," said Lee Sung Jae. "She studied a lot of languages and did a lot of research surprising us once again."
Choi took good care of the actors in her charge. She impressed them with her cooking skills.
"I wish I had a daughter-in-law like that," said Lee Sung Jae.
And since he has come to think of Lee Seo Jin as being like a son, he wanted to match them up. He was anticipating what might happen on the show.
"I hope the two end up together," he said.
The show's producer Na Young Suk was pleased with Choi Ji Woo's contributions.
"I chose Choi because I think she is a very hard-working individual. Her job on the show was to take care of senior actors. If the viewer checks out the show, they will find that she nailed her job."
The first installment of "Grandpas Over Flowers" became a surprise hit, earning the highest ratings for a Korean cable program and inspiring a few spin-offs. The name of the show is a joke based on the famous k-drama hit "Boys Over Flowers," which starred Lee Min Ho, Kim Hyun Joong, Kim Bum and Kim Joon as four friends attending a private school.
An American adaptation of the variety show is in the works.
