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SBS released a statement addressing the controversy regarding the Best Couple award criteria for the 2023 SBS Drama Awards.
SBS conducted an online poll for this year's Best Couple award from December 18 to 27 on its official website.
The nominees for the Best Couple award are Ryeoun and Shin Ye Eun (The Secret Romantic Guesthouse), Ahn Hyo Seop and Lee Sung Kyung (Dr. Romantic Season 3), and Song Kang and Kim Yoo Jung (My Demon).
Song Kang and Kim Yoo Jung won the online vote by a landslide, with fans commenting that they garnered nearly three times the votes as the couple in second place.
However, after the online voting closed on December 27, SBS issued a statement stating that the Best Couple award would be selected based on a number of other criteria in addition to the results of the online vote.
The statement said, "Aside from the online voting results, the Best Couple award is also determined based on the votes of each drama’s production team, the internal votes of SBS and Studio S employees, viewership ratings, online buzz, and other factors. The results will be announced during the live broadcast."
This news fueled speculation that SBS revised the criteria to avoid awarding Song Kang, who, as previously reported, will be unable to attend the 2023 SBS Drama Awards. SBS replied to speculations of Song Kang's absence earlier this week by noting that he was "adjusting his schedule," implying that his participation at the awards was still uncertain.
On December 29, SBS categorically denied that they had modified the award criteria. Their statement said, "The criteria for the Best Couple award have been the same every year, and we put them in writing this year because we'd received many inquiries about the award criteria." They also said, "We would be grateful if you would tune in to the broadcast to see the award results."
The 2023 SBS Drama Awards will air today (December 29) at 8:40 p.m. KST.
