The Ultimate Green Flag: Why We’d Pick Theo Jang in a Heartbeat

Theo Jang doesn’t walk into a room so much as he arrives. There’s an energy shift, subtle but undeniable, like someone just turned up the dial on the atmosphere.

He’s not loud. He doesn’t need to be. He greets people with warmth and asks about their day, because he cares.

He’s the kind of guy who listens when you speak—who makes you feel, for a fleeting moment, like you are the most interesting person in the world.

He was a fan favorite on the latest season of the South Korean reality television show Single’s Inferno for exactly this reason. Not because he was the loudest or the flashiest, but because he was sincere.

And while he didn’t get the girl in the end, if it were up to us, we would’ve picked him in a heartbeat.

The accidental actor

There’s something cinematic about Theo’s origin story, but not in the way you’d expect. No childhood dream of stardom, no early breakthroughs. Just a guy, deeply uncertain about his future, cycling through potential careers—law, finance, something stable—only to find out that none of them fit.

Then came the military service. A long stretch of time where routine dictated everything.

It was during those days that he started watching films. Not casually—obsessively. He consumed over 200 movies, tracking their evolution from the earliest silent reels to modern masterpieces.

“The only thing that truly excites me is acting,” he says, almost as if he’s still surprised by it. And just like that, he shifted gears, stepping onto a path that finally made sense.

This philosophy—this belief that life isn’t a competition but a series of moments, instincts, and coincidences—shaped his entire approach to Single’s Inferno.

Others strategized; Theo existed. Others competed; Theo observed.

He understood that attraction, like success, can’t be forced.

You can’t make someone choose you, just like you can’t force the universe to hand you a role. You just have to show up as yourself and see what happens.

More than a reality star

Reality TV has a way of flattening people, turning them into characters rather than fully formed humans. But Theo refused to play that game.

What you saw on Single’s Inferno—the kindness, the quiet charm, the lack of ego—that’s who he really is.

During our shoot, he makes it a point to talk to everyone. He eats the food he’s given (Jollibee is his new favorite, though he worries he had too much—impossible, I tell him).

He exists in spaces like he belongs there, but never like he owns them. It’s a distinction that matters.

And maybe that’s the real reason people fell for him. Not because he played the game well, but because he refused to play it at all.

You believe him. He’s not trying to be humble. He just doesn’t quite understand why people love him so much. And honestly, that makes us love him even more.

What comes next?

The Single’s Inferno chapter may be over, but Theo is only just getting started.

His next big project brings him back to the Philippines, where he’ll be starring in a film about Filipino soldiers who fought alongside Koreans during the war. It’s the kind of project that matters—not just a role, but a story with weight and history.

“I think it’s important to tell stories like this,” he says. “History connects us in ways we don’t always realize.”

But he’s thinking even bigger. He wants to act internationally, to work in different languages, and to take on roles that challenge him.

Maybe a musician in a historical drama, he muses. He almost majored in piano once. He still feels connected to that world, to the way artists struggle and create.

“I think music and acting have a lot in common. Both are about expressing emotions, about telling a story,” Theo shares.

And if there’s anything he excels at, it’s storytelling—whether through his work or just by being himself.

For now, though, he’s embracing the strange and wonderful experience of being adored by strangers. It still baffles him a little, this sudden global affection.

But if you’ve spent even five minutes in a room with Theo, you get it. His Single’s Inferno journey may not have ended with romance, but let’s be real—he’s still the one we all fell for.

And, in the grand scheme of things, that’s the better ending anyway.

Photography Dookie Ducay

Art direction Summer Untalan

Fashion Corven Uy

Grooming Janica Cleto

Hair Bryan Eusebio

Photography assistants Lou Fajardo and Sean Francisco

Special thanks Kim Doyoon, Kim Minju, Anthea Palomer, and Erica Onofre

On location PIONEERX Studios