Whether you’re a K-drama or K-pop fan, you can’t deny the immense popularity of Korean reality shows. First aired in 2013 and continuing to receive love from fans all around the world, The Return Of Superman is a reality show where celebrity fathers are left alone with their kids for 48 hours while their wives take the time off to relax.
Featuring dads ranging from actors to athletes and K-pop idols, the programme documents the precious bonding moments of fathers with their children. Take a look back at 15 The Return Of Superman kids and siblings we fondly watched, and where they are now.
Contents
Source, source
Years on the show: 2013 to 2017
As one of the original cast members, MMA fighter Choo Sung Hoon (Yoshihiro Akiyama) had a lot of fun raising his daughter Sarang to be as tough as him while on the show. Choo Sarang, born in 2011, first appeared as an adorable 2-year-old who was unable to speak fluent Korean since their family lived in Japan.
With the help of The Return Of Superman, her Korean improved and she became one of the most well-loved cast members on the show. Even after she left in 2017, she continued to make guest appearances with members such as Park Naeun, who’s still in the current cast of The Return of Superman in 2023.
In 2018, Sarang’s family moved to Hawaii and she’s currently attending school there, while still remaining close with her long-time Japanese friend Yuto, who also occasionally appeared on the show. Both Sarang’s parents continue to update fans on her life on their Instagram pages, and Sarang remains active through doing sports such as boxing and even training at a model training school.
Source, source
Years on the show: 2013 to 2018
Gagman Lee Hwijae’s mischievous twins were original The Return Of Superman cast members who stayed on the show for 5 years. Both Seoeon and Seojun were only a few months old when they were first introduced — Hwijae had such a hard time dealing with their needs that he broke down and cried while filming an episode.
In 2020, the twins entered elementary school and their mother shared that the staff from The Return Of Superman celebrated with them by sending a cake. Now 10 years old, Seoeon and Seojun continue to take care of each other and enjoy doing activities such as baking and cycling as shared on their Instagram page. Their family has since moved to Vancouver, Canada in late 2022.
Source, source
Years on the show: 2013 to 2015
When it comes to the big 3 K-pop companies, YG Entertainment is a familiar name that most are aware of. Tablo from YG’s hip-hop group Epik High was one of the original cast members in 2013, introducing his 3-year-old daughter born in 2010, Haru, to popular boy groups such as Big Bang and Winner while filming.
Fans will never forget the huge crush Haru had on Big Bang’s leader G-Dragon, even giving him a kiss on the cheek before his live performance. After leaving the show, Tablo continued to update about Haru’s life on an Instagram account he made called @tabloisdad. With Haru now 13, Tablo still fondly shares snippets about his fatherhood moments in interviews and podcasts.
Source, source
Years on the show: 2013 to 2014
Brothers Junwoo (born 2003) and Junseo (born 2007) were the oldest kids among the original cast members at ages 10 and 6 respectively. While younger children among The Return Of Superman’s cast had problems that could be easily solved, actor Jang Hyun Sung was dealing with emotional conflicts between the 2 brothers.
Despite their differences, the brothers looked out for each other and supported their father, eventually moving to live in Jeju Island for 3 years after the show.
In 2019, Junwoo entered his first year of high school and a cute selfie of him and his friend was uploaded online. The 2 boys have grown up so fast in the blink of an eye that Jang Hyun Sung shared in a Happy Together episode that he’s been struggling to help them with schoolwork now.
Source, source
Years on the show: 2014 to 2016
As the nation’s triplets who stole the hearts of international fans around the world, 2-year-olds Daehan, Minguk and Manse, born in 2012, were a joy to watch. Despite being triplets, the 3 boys shared very different personalities, but always came together to share their immense love for dinosaurs or cause trouble for their father.
Though Song Il Gook is an actor based in Korea, their family moved to France for a year in 2017 as the triplets’ mother was pursuing further studies there. Il Gook continues to post pictures and videos of the triplets on his Instagram account, occasionally sharing throwback moments from when they were babies.
In 2021, Il Gook uploaded a video of Daehan skillfully playing the piano. But he also mentioned that he’s been posting less as the triplets don’t particularly enjoy the attention from the public.
Source
Years on the show: 2015 to 2019
When these 5 siblings were first introduced to the show, many fans were shocked to find out that soccer player Lee Dong Gook is a father of 2 pairs of twins and a son. At the start, he couldn’t do things without the help of his older twin girls, Jaesi and Jaeah (born 2007), who were 8 at the time.
The beagle sisters, Seolah and Suah (born 2013), were 2 years old while their youngest Si An, fondly known as “daebak”, was only a few months old. Though the show focused more on the 3 younger siblings, Jaesi and Jaeah continued to make occasional appearances on the show over the years.
Source, source
The 5 siblings remain active in the entertainment industry even after leaving the show. Jaesi and Jaeah, both 16 now, each have their own Instagram accounts where they share how they are pursuing their dreams of becoming a model and tennis player respectively.
The 5 siblings’ mother regularly posts updates about their family life on her Instagram page as well, aside from vlogs on Youtube titled DAEBAK FAMILY. Till today, all of them continue to go on fun shoots and reality shows together with their father, showcasing their strong bond as a large family.
Source, source
Years on the show: 2016 to 2018
Ki Rohee’s parents are one of the few Korean celeb couples who are so cute together, they remind us that true love exists. Both of them are actors, while mum Eugene was also a first generation K-pop idol from the group S.E.S.
Rohee (born 2015) was only a few months old when she first appeared on The Return Of Superman, and fans swooned over how loving and patient Ki Tae-young was with his daughter. Rohee’s younger sister Rorin was born 3 years later in 2018, but didn’t appear much on the show before the family left it.
Eugene continues to share updates about the 2 sisters on her Instagram page and fans were surprised to see how much Rorin actually resembles Rohee when she was on the show. The trio appeared on an episode of Master in the House earlier in 2021, where Rohee proudly declared that her mother is “more awesome than BLACKPINK”.
Source, source
Years on the show: 2016 to 2017
Soeul (born 2011) was best known for being the sweetest noona to her younger brother Daeul (born 2014) on the show. Though she was only 5 years old at the time and Daeul was 2, both of them rarely fought and got along well, proving that they were the ultimate #siblingsgoals.
A lot of attention was drawn to the SoDa siblings because fans felt that Daeul looked similar to EXO’s Chen. This resulted in an episode where EXO’s Chen and Xiumen spent the day together with them and their father Lee Beom Soo, who’s an actor.
As of 2021, their mother shares vlogs of the siblings going on adventures and trying out new activities together, on a YouTube account called SoDaGenie. She also regularly updates her Instagram page with pictures of the siblings as the family starts their new adventures living in Bali.
Also read:
Source, source
Years on the show: 2017 to 2019
When Ko Seungjae (born 2014) first appeared on the show at 3 years old, he proved to be part of the 0.1% of kids his age with high intelligence. As someone who loves speaking to others, Seungjae was able to communicate well and made use of advanced vocabulary.
Seungjae’s father Ko Ji Yong used to be a former K-pop idol from Sechs Kies, but he eventually retired and became a successful businessman. Even after he left the show, Seungjae made a guest appearance with Sian from the 5 siblings’ household in 2020 – a comeback that was akin to how the pair used to appear together when they were younger.
Ji Yong created an Instagram account to post updates about Seungjae’s life. Earlier in 2021, the family also made an appearance on The House Detox together.
Source, source
Years on the show: 2017
In 2017, a professor on BBC News went viral after his children interrupted a live interview by barging into his room and crying loudly when their mother dragged them out. That professor was none other than Robert Kelly, the iconic father who also appeared in a special episode of The Return Of Superman with his 2 children Yena (born 2013) and Yuseop (born 2016), also known as Marion and James.
On top of discussing news and politics on Twitter, Dr. Kelly, from Pusan National University’s political science department, often updates his followers about his children, calling these tweets his “BBC Dad Content”. He shared a photo of Yena’s performance of “Cats” for school, stating that it was “one of our best family pictures in a while”.
Source, source
Years on the show: 2017
Featured in another special cast episode, ex U-KISS maknae Shin Dongho and his son Asher Shin made a guest appearance together with Rohee. As a former K-pop idol, Dongho surprised many fans when he announced he was leaving the group to be married at 22 years old and became a father at 23.
While on the show, Dongho showcased his struggles as a young father since Asher was only a few months old — even seeking advice from watching Ki Taeyong take care of Rohee.
However, in 2018, Dongho announced that he was getting a divorce after 3 years of marriage. Since posting images of Asher’s first birthday party, there haven’t been any public updates about him as Dongho doesn’t live with him anymore.
Source, source
Years on the show: 2019 to 2020
Similar to Rohee, Moon Heeyul, fondly nicknamed as Jam-Jam on the show, is also known for having celebrity parents. Her father Moon Hee Joon was the leader of a first-generation K-pop idol group called H.O.T while her mother Soyul was from a girl group known as Crayon Pop.
It’s no surprise that Jam-Jam herself loved singing and dancing at home on the show — it’s basically in her genes. After leaving the show, her family opened a YouTube channel called Jam2 House, featuring vlogs about their life, and also an Instagram account filled with Jam-Jam’s fun milestones such as birthday celebrations and completing art classes.
Source, source
Years on the show: 2020
It’s impossible to keep the name “Kang Gary” out of your mouth when talking about Running Man. In 2016, Gary announced that he was leaving the show to focus on his music career — a decision that left many fans devastated. He eventually appeared on The Return Of Superman in 2020 with his son Haoh after a long hiatus from reality shows.
Haoh is good friends with Jam-Jam, who was a cast member on the show at the same time, and the pair often went on adventures together hand in hand. When Haoh found out that they were leaving the show, he tearfully bade goodbye to the viewers and expressed his wishes to see them again. Gary also started an Instagram account for Haoh where he regularly updates about Haoh’s activities.
Source, source
Years on the show: 2018 to 2020, 2021 to present
Following Lee Dong Gook, another soccer player father stole the show with his adorable children. Park Naeun (born 2015), also known as Eden, stunned fans by being able to switch between 4 languages with ease and is fluent in all of them.
Naeun is also always sweet to everyone around her, especially when it comes to taking care of her younger brother Geonhoo (born 2017), also known as Aciel. She even helped out as a German-to-Korean translator when Korean MC Kwanghee brought the pair to Switzerland, even though she was only 4 then.
In 2020, the family announced that they would be taking a hiatus from the show as they were expecting a new baby. But as of 2021, Park Joo Ho’s youngest son – Jinwoo, also known as Élyséen, born the same year. But as of 2021, the family has rejoined as current cast members. If you want to keep up further with the trio, they have a shared Instagram account called @lovelyparktrio and a Youtube account run by their mother.
Source, source
Years on the show: 2016 to 2022
After Seoeon and Seojun, comedian Sam Hammington and his 2 sons William and Bentley are the next family to have stayed on the show the longest. William (born 2016) was only a baby when he first appeared on the show in 2016, and fans got to watch the birth of Bentley (born 2017) in an episode aired in 2018.
William and Bentley are best known for their naughty antics, ice hockey training and struggles with speaking English despite being half-Australian. In 2020, Sam announced in an episode of K-Friends Show that he and his wife were trying for a 3rd child via IVF. The couple has also created Instagram accounts for both William and Bentley, where they update us about their lives while also remaining as current cast members on the show.
From watching The Return Of Superman kids grow up, many fans may feel a sense of nostalgia and pride seeing how far these kids have come. Throughout the years, the kids remind us of how fondly we loved them, especially in the peak of their childhood innocence and playfulness.
For those who grew up watching MTV as well, discover 13 MTV Asia VJs we all had crushes on when we were younger and where they are now.
Also read:
Just girly tings.
A K-beauty lover's dream.
Take notes if you're looking to plan a smaller wedding.
Another way to doll up your Labubu.
One month of discounts?! Yes please.