SBS to Stop Reality Show After Contestant's Suicide

SBS said Friday it will take the blind-date reality show "Jjak" off air after a contestant was found dead of apparent suicide on the Jeju Island set early Wednesday morning. An SBS spokesman promised there would be no further such incidents.

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The show, whose title means "partner" in Korean, started in early 2011 and is a variation of U.S. program "The Bachelor".

SBS has insisted there was no undue pressure on contestants, who are herded together in a hotel for weeks and filmed practically every waking moment. But it emerged later that the contestant, an office worker identified as Jeon, had told parents and friends by phone calls or SMS that she was having a tough time during filming.

Police are investigating claims of pressure and misleading editing in order to dramatize her drop in popularity as filming progressed.