Last night, it was revealed that a female participant, J, of SBS's reality show 'Couple' was found dead inside a bathroom in what appeared to be suicide.  On March 5, two of J's high school friends, A and B, met with reporters at a cafe in Gangnam to speak up about the incident.  They revealed that J was an ordinary worker at an education-related company and had broken up with her boyfriend near the end of last year.

According to her friends, J applied to appear on the show, but later declined the offer when was selected.  However, a staff member told her they had already purchased her plane tickets so she decided to go to Jeju anyway.

Her friends said in general, "J always had an upbeat personality so she figured that since it came to this point, she might as well engage in filming the show with enjoyment.  She even told us through mobile messaging that she was doing well on site.  However, the production crew tried to make J seem like a 'tragic heroine.'  They usually filmed her going to the bathroom, but when she actually died, they say they didn't know about it, which makes us think they did not properly watch over their participants.

People leaving online messages and all of our friends regard it as her personal problem.  However, if SBS paid a bit more attention, they could have prevented a tragedy.  Reports only represented the stance from SBS's side, which is why we volunteered for an interview."

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The friends revealed that J felt like she was being portrayed as a 'tragic heroine' and 'a young, abandoned woman' by the production team, maybe because she recently broke up with her boyfriend.  J even thought they wanted her to cry, but she didn't; instead, she seemed energetic, which disconcerted the production crew.  She felt burdened by the attention (they even followed her right up to the bathroom door) so even texted that she quickly wanted to go home.  

During the interview, A and B claimed that J was not depressed at all, but was rather bright and cheerful, whereas people on the internet wrongly believed her to have had a weak mentality.  She could not have died under intoxication as suspected by some because she was a strong drinker.

J also got along with the other cast members on the show and was having fun. Even though the man she liked on the show did not return her feelings in the end, she said they would return to Seoul after the show and remain as friends.  

Lastly, the friends said, "We're not saying the broadcasting company killed her, but we wish they would apologize."