Novice

1) It's not that he wasn't sure about her, and was considering other girls. You're mixing it up.
He wasn't sure about THEM (a future Seulgi and Jinyoung together).
2) Jinyoung stopping and standing next to Nadine for several seconds was most definitely instructed by the staff. It was so bait-y, no human in his right mind would ever do that.
3) I don't even think it's Jongwoo's consistency that lead to the decision. It's either the staff guiding the decision process, as they do in so many shows, to give some sort of "moral of the story" to the audience "If you work hard, it'll work out for you", or it's just Seulgi not wanting to leave the island alone.

Yes, they can just reject multiple people and leave alone.

You summed it up nicely. The only thing I'm skeptical about is Seulki's choice at the end. She could have left alone. There clearly is no romantic chemistry between Jongwoo and her. That's what's weird. Maybe she just wants to try a couple of dates, and maybe Jongwoo being financially more stable than Jinyoung played a part in this too.

A decent end I suppose. 8/10 for the show overall.

The only couple that looked stable at the end was SeoEun and YoungJae. Everyone else is shaky.
Also, I can't help but think that Seulki's choice was sort of a cop-out, to not leave the show alone, but with someone. I think she was conflicted and unsure about JinYoung, and would have been fine leaving solo, but she chose JongWoo to try it out...

She had better communication with JongWoo for sure, but no sexual chemistry. They didn't flirt a single time in this entire show. Even during their Paradise date Seulki covered up her skin more when they went to the pool. No flirting, no romantic skinship, no butterflies. They seemed like buddies. However, JongWoo runs a cafe with his parents, so he's financially stable, and I think that played into Seulki's mind at the end for sure. Financially stable boyfriend and a pianist student kind of makes sense. They can find time to meet up and go on dates outside of the show, and as I mentioned just now, they do have chat. So I think Seulki decided to give it a shot, try a couple of dates, even though there is no chemistry there. She said she wanted to try dating someone who liked her instead of her liking someone, and this was it.

With JinYoung Seulki had sexual chemistry every time they talked, the way she behaved, the way she dressed, but then again, that's the only thing they had. They really struggled to talk about topics, and maybe that's just because they only known each other for a couple of days, so it might improve with time, but I'm not sure if sexual chemistry alone is a basis for a relationship at all. That fades eventually, and you have to work at keeping it alive.

Also, JinYoung is a realist, and he was the one who brought up the "support/financial stability" argument into their interaction first, which is probably what shook up Seulki. Since she was always so emotional around him all this time, she wasn't thinking with her head, but now was confronted with a real life dating scenario. It gave her pause.
I honestly didn't mind that argument at all. JinYoung is just self-aware. He knows that his Military-Youtube content isn't making much money [with the Korean audience] at the moment (enough for him to survive of course, but not enough for luxury, not stable), and he was just being transparent, wanted to share his thoughts with Seulki. That's what he was unsure about. "Would I be able to support you financially if you leaned on me? Would we go on a lot of dates?" and I think he was also considering traveling to the US to create Military related content there, like he mentioned to Nadine, "Would she be able to travel with me? Would I travel alone and we'd have a long-distance relationship?"

There is a lot of thinking that goes into such a relationship. Basically, JinYoung was definitely imagining some sort of future with Seulki, which is why he was so conflicted about their compatibility. But ultimately, he did choose her, didn't he. He said a certain "I like you."
Seulki on the other hand misunderstood his uncertainty to mean that he's deciding between different girls. He wasn't. He was just worried about their future together.

So ultimately, I think Seulki either
(1) came to the same realization about wanting financial stability when dating, because JinYoung brought it up. If he hadn't brought it up, she would have just chosen him purely on emotion, and that's why she chose the more stable JongWoo instead, or
(2) she misunderstood JinYoung, thinking he's interested in another girl, so on a whim she chose JongWoo in order to not leave alone.

Be it as it may, there aren't really any couples here other than SeoEun and YoungJae, and this is just a variety show. Who knows what will happen outside of the show. I can totally imagine JinYoung meeting up at a gun range in the US with Nadine for example. It's just networking.

PS: If it was me and I had a choice between a romantic interest and a nice person who loves me, I'd always choose the romantic interest of mine. Just picking someone nice is unfathomable to me in Romance. It is extremely rare to find a person who you have butterflies with and who's compatible with you as a longterm partner. I'm not talking about looks here. I can look at models and find them attractive, but none of them give me butterflies and I'm not imagining a life together with any of them. I'm telling you. Finding a person, the real deal, in real life, who you like romantically and who you can picture a future with is rare; You meet maybe 1 person every 3-5 years that might fit that.
On the other hand, I meet nice people who treat me nice every week. That's just a "friend".
I would never choose "nice" over "Romance" for dating or a life partner. What a waste.

PPS: This show might also be slightly scripted. Not much, but some parts for sure. JinYoung standing beside Nadine for several seconds...I can totally see the staff advising him to do that. Also, when JinYoung walked towards Seulki at the end, she was so happy, beaming with happiness, and then hiding her smile away and her eyes wandering, because she tried to be considerate to JungWoo who was standing beside her. With all that happiness she then chooses JungWoo at the end? What? It's kind of suspicious.
But anyways, have a nice day guys. Don't let this show get to your head. It's just TV. Overall an entertaining show.

...and I agree with you (read the last 5 comments you wrote up here), so don't worry. Keep posting your opinion, because it makes a lot of sense.

Pretty sure it's the latter. All contestants start this experience with some sort of hope to get to know people, even if getting clout is always in the back of their mind, but then as the episodes go on, the production crew starts to change and adjust who is supposed to speak to who regardless how people feel about it. Most contestants go along with the script (probably afraid of losing the gig if they refuse), but some keep it real.
Look at Seoyeon. I'm pretty sure she went against the script at the end (her eyes were jumping left and right looking at the staff/cameras checking for their reactions), and when she said what she said there was nothing else to film, and the staff ended the show. LOL Wow what a finale. Boring fakery.

Lana picking Soomin and that fake hug where they stick out their bums away from each other, so they don't touch each other too much - that's how you would hug your creepy grandpa. No romance there.
Kangrae and Seoah, their hug is also fake as hell. Seoah doesn't look sincere at all. She's just a smiley girl who's following the script, very impressionable, young, looking for clout, looking for a breakthrough with this show. When Seoyeon spoke her peace at the end and how she wishes luck to the couples that formed there, everyone started clapping and the camera moved to different people; Look how unhappy Seoah is, and how half-a$$ed her clapping is. She wasn't agreeing with this couple at all. I don't think she's planning to date Kangrae.

I'm pretty sure most of the events and couples in this show are scripted. Egon and Lana liked each other, but the staff put them apart.
Dohyun and Seoah actually looked kind of stable in the beginning, flirty, complementary, holding hands, both faces beaming, happiness, which if you are holding hands happily, you're touchy, tingly, is sort of a green light for further skinship (even among Kindergarteners for god's sake), carefully, and I just don't understand how a kiss on the cheek mid-season, which is very innocent, turned Seoah off this much. That was probably scripted as well to create more drama. Staff involved. Also, as much as this show is edited, you can't hide body language and facial expressions. Pause the video at the final selection (Episode 8) at 42:41 (Seoah and Kangrae [blue shirt] holding hands) and at 42:43 (Seoah and Dohyun [gray shirt] holding hands), while music is playing. This is supposed to be a suspenseful scripted moment. "Omg, who will she choose." No need for all of that. Look at Seoah's eyes. Her eyes are smiling with the gray shirt guy (Dohyun), and are neutral with the blue shirt guy, and yet her final choice is Kangrae? LOL Scripted 100%
That's just not how attraction works.
Chaehee just had a one-sided love towards Egon the entire season. No need for a script there. She was left by the sidelines. I read her recent IG, and she explained that the show was filmed in 6 days (but edited and released in episodes over 2 months), so Chaehee just all-in'ed on one guy because she only had 6 days. It was short to get to know a person there, and spitting your attention would have been even more insincere.
Soomin had a one-sided love towards Lana the entire time, but this the staff actually decided to entertain, and build a whole arc around, which made Soomin look like an emotional creep. It should have been just left as a one-sided unrequited love, and it would have been fine. Anyway, 100% scripted.

It was all just for friendships and clout. No romance anywhere at all. You can scroll down in the comments here and find an overview of their social media accounts - IG, youtube, etc. and they are all just doing their own thing (promotion, events, youtube, photos, etc.)

My perception may be flawed, but to me so many things felt out of place in Episode 11.

- Daon and Hangyeol conversation in the downstairs hidden room, fake as hell, could as well be scripted
- Hangyeol crying (out of happiness or relief?), because Daon said she likes him, fake as hell, fake crying, what the hell was that? Is he a serial killer, or sociopath, or an actor?
- The producers giving Hangyeol and Seulbi way too much screen time, trying to push another love-triangle with Daon towards the finale, and trying to promote Hangyeol as a great catch. He isn't. Watching this just irks me. I frankly don't care about Hangyeol at all. He's fake as hell. He's someone who weasels himself into conversations and situations all the time - he's an opportunist. That's just not how you start building a genuine relationship. Hard pass. The portrait drawing scene was completely pointless too. Just more script, in order to make it seem like the interest in Seulbi and Daon is somewhat balanced. They are adding more things on Seulbi's side. Oh PDs, please...so fake.

I rewatched Ep9, so I can remember Daon's point of view on the boys more clearly. She said that when Taeyang joined the show, she was absolutely smitten with him - deep in love basically (so both Hanu and Hangyeol were completely out of the picture if we believe her words). She also explicitly said in an interview in Ep9 that "I already stopped having feelings for him [Hanu]". Her second choice after Taeyang was Hangyeol (can you believe that? wow), because he was so persistent, like a loyal admirer. However, Daon never texted Hangyeol back. She just enjoyed the attention he was giving her unconditionally. So then, before the 2-day-1-night trip Daon had to decide between Taeyang and Hangyeol (or as a metaphor, Fire or Water, the passionate person VS the calm person). She decided on Taeyang. But because she was so wishy-washy / indecisive for several days, it pushed Taeyang away, and in Ep10 he basically ended it between them. That's the gist of it. Now Daon comes back into the house, has regrets, and says she should have chosen "Water" instead (Water being Hangyeol, the calm type). Isn't that all so interesting, and there's no mention of Hanu at all, and you know how she "already stopped having feelings for him". But here is the kicker:

Her choice was Taeyang or Hangyeol, and yet, the most emotion we see Daon show is when Hanu returned the LP back to her. She chased him to talk more. She sat there and balled her eyes out for quite a while, which was far more emotion than she has ever shown on this show! So what do you think? How much must this have meant to her?! The LP was a present from Hanu and Daon's first date, where they both bought 1 LP each, and gave it to each other as presents. They are both musicians, and it's sort of a bond between them. Hanu giving his back to Daon basically meant a complete cut off of that memory, as if to say "you can have it back, it never happened, we're done, for good, goodbye". Now that was genuine shock. She crying there, I really believed her. I'm not sure if the tears were ABOUT Hanu. It may have been a more selfish feeling of loss, since she now lost both Taeyang and Hanu permanently, and was feeling undesired? You know how people say: Presented with a choice, if you can't decide on a person, you'll probably lose both. That's what happened here. Maybe that's why she was crying? Just feeling sad for herself? Nothing to do with Hanu? I don't know. That really surprised me though. She showed so much emotion and care for, according to her, her 3rd choice.

Now switching to another situationship, during the Truth game at the end when Haneul said that Taeyang is her Nr1 choice and she'll pick him at the end, it looks like some sort of script again. Wasn't Haneul always focused on Hanu so far? It's true that she was annoyed about being the second choice, and chose Taeyang once out of spite, but she was always fixated on Hanu, and now that Hanu finally cut all the other distractions out, and decided to facus on Haneul, suddenly she is choosing someone else? WTF. Is that some sort of vengeance plot, or a new PD script to add more tension? I don't understand.
Maybe I'm reading too much into this. The questions to Haneul were quite specific: Hanu: "Will you chose me as your final pick?" Answer: NO (maybe she's just teasing Hanu). "Do you have feelings for Taeyang?" Answer: YES (but that doesn't mean she'll pick Taeyang as the final pick, just that she has feeling for him, she also has feelings for Hanu, since she likes both, she could just be playful and vague with the answer)

Ok, enough with the drama. I'm actually happy for Chansol and Dahae. Those two are making it work for now.
I also empathize with Hanui. She's probably the only girl in the house who really needs a significant other, to help her heal and build up confidence again. Her past is a lot of baggage for anyone, including herself. She needs a supportive partner/boyfriend. Everyone else in this show can happily stay single to be honest, even Chansol and Dahae.
So when the news came that the secrets will be revealed openly to everybody next week, and Hanui crying there, this I fully believe is genuine. Hanui has the most sensitive secret. Everyone else's is kind of a joke compared to hers.

So yeah. Pure chaos.

Great season. Lovely pairings, and I think all of them worked out after the show as well (or are at least a work in progress). Everyone is keeping in touch. That's quite an achievement.

The show was shot in June or July 2022 I believe, then post-produced and edited, aired in August, and finished at the end of October 2022.
It's December 2022 as I'm posting this, and you can still look at the cast's weibo pages or do a little research online, and you'll find that the couples are still together, or at least keeping in touch actively. It's wonderful. This was a really lovely season, and I love it when actual real couples form.

Some romance variety shows are "show" only. A lot of scripting, and contestants being there for the clout. Heart Signal 5 had real romance form and work outside of the show. Thumbs up for that!

You could literally see on Taeyang's face how his mood changed. I think he was open at the beginning of their conversation, waiting for things to get resolved, wanting this couple to work, and for Daon to reassure him or approach him. There was a possibility. However, Daon did the exact opposite.

She started venting, how her experience in Pink Lie has been so good for her, how 3 boys liking her is so wonderful, and kept bringing up the other 2 boys constantly. It's the exact opposite of reassurance. She pushed Taeyang further away with that. This was the moment when you could see on Taeyang's face that he made his mind up - in that very moment he gave up on Daon. He literally went into sad mode, sulk mode, quiet mode, and just let Daon speak without interrupting her. I understand him. If he confronted her further with words, it would have turned into an argument. It was pointless. He and Daon are just too different, and Taeyang knows that Daon's personality doesn't match his. This is where he drew the line, where he said: "Don't get your hopes up" and "I'm not interested in you."
Daon is just too self-absorbed, and doesn't focus on any of the boys. She is not girlfriend material to be honest with you. She's just solo-growing if you want to call it that - enjoying the experience.

On another note, Hanu and Haneul had a good date, but towards the end at the BBQ place I couldn't help but notice that Hanu said: "[I'll paraphrase here a bit] everything we did today I liked, the view was nice, the food was good, we reached this finale [this was a nice way to end the day]."
Notice that he didn't have "the company was good" or "I liked being with you" or any other such compliment in his list. Usually people do say that when they are romantically interested and when they sum up a day like that. Hanu didn't. So I think he was just being polite, but ultimately will still choose Daon as his final choice.

Stevie, I just wanted to give you this compliment. You are an intelligent person. I read through 10+ of your comments, and they are always a delight to read. Very well reasoned comments. High IQ. Keep posting. :)

Finished the show recently, and I loved it. 9/10
I highly recommend it.

I'm really happy that Song Mingshen and Xiong Xiaoyu ended up together like they did. The guy was persistent, patient, and attentive from beginning until the end (even though he's more the quiet and shy type, so I was really impressed by his character), and the girl although skeptical at the beginning, and even dismissive several times, warmed up to him towards the end; The place they ended up being at is just beautiful - pure romance and lovely behavior.

What impresses me even more is that this show is from April 2020, and if you check Mingshen's or Xiaoyu's weibo accounts right now in February 2022, they are still happily together, all lovey-dovey, living together (I think, based on the pictures they post), traveling together, dating together, going to fashion shows together, staying in the same hotel rooms, uploading singing videos together, vlogging, uploading videos TOGETHER very frequently (several times a week) - simply being a lovely couple even 2 years after the Love Timing Season 2 show ended. Who would have known while watching the show...
They turned out to be such a beautiful couple in the real world, simply being satisfied with each other. No fame, no big careers, no big cash or anything like that. Just pure love, and they are satisfied and happy with their lives together as is. They look good together too. <3

This show has nothing to do with "x-lovers" or "x-boyfriend/girlfriend". All the contestants in this show are meeting each other for the very first time.
The native title of this show is 机智的恋爱, or "Witty Love" which hits the nail on the head much better; It's a show about love, romance, and using your wit/reasoning to either get into a relationship or not.

The English alias this show goes by "The Secret X" is just confusing. The "X" in this title simply means something like "the person you want to avoid", or "the person who isn't there for love". The Secret bomb you want to dodge. If O is a hit when finding love, and X is a miss, you would want to avoid that "Secret X".

I watched this show from start to finish, and I see some similarities to the "Love Catcher" series, but there contestants secretly were looking either for Love (Love Catcher) or for Money (Money Catcher), and everyone was trying to figure out who is who, to find out who to dodge (avoid the scheming/acting Money Catchers).
Here in "The Secret X" / "Witty Love" however, there is no Money Catchers, there is no money price pool at all. Some contestants here are just pessimistic about love based on their past experience, so they don't want to get into a relationship, so in this show you could label them as "X". Those people are secretly here on the show pretending to find a lover, but in reality they are just looking for exposure/clout I assume (for a future acting career perhaps, a casting, or just clout for their Weibo accounts, promotion opportunities, etc.); Because what else is there to gain for them?! It has to be clout.

On the other hand, most of the contestants here truly want to find love and get into a relationship. So overall this show falls into the Romance category. Finding out who the love-pessimists are is kind of irrelevant. Now lastly for a twist, the love-pessimists can actually change their role from an X to (lets say an O) someone who wants to be in a relationship if they fall in love with a contestant in this show. If feelings develop the pessimism can turn into optimism. This twist is kind of similar to the "Love Catcher" series too, because there the Money Catchers can change their identity to Love Catcher if they fall in love.

I hope this explanation helped. It's a good show.
PS: I'll put this comment inside a spoiler box, so it doesn't occupy too much space on the main page; Just to make it a bit cleaner. Those of you who read this wall of text, thank you, and have a nice day. :)

Thanks for sharing. Much appreciated. I looked over them all, and from what I can tell pretty much all couples have broken up. Most of the participants just use their newly gained clout from The Secret X show (aka Witty Love), and do promotions etc. on their weibo accounts.

The last photos I've seen of some participants being together is from Dec. 5th 2021, but there is no romance at all.