The winner of Physical: Asia has been announced, and already allegations are being made that the Netflix show is “rigged”. However, fans are fighting back, with one sharing a Team Mongolia video that disproves the theory.
A spinoff to Physical: 100, the new competition series sees eight teams from different countries – Korea, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Mongolia, Australia, and Turkey – battle it out to be crowned the strongest nation.
Alongside the glory of victory, the winning team bags a one billion won ($700,000) cash prize. On November 18, the final batch of episodes landed on Netflix, revealing who made it through those final quests and which country took home the gold.
Article continues after ad
While most fans have enjoyed the new format, as is the case with so many competition shows, a corner of the internet has questioned the fairness of the quests, and these accusations have ramped up since the release of the finale. Warning: spoilers ahead!
Article continues after ad
Physical: Asia fans clap back at “rigging” allegations
Korea ultimately won Physical: Asia, and some have accused the show of being in favor of their team as the host country. However, other viewers have been shutting down the claims, with one Redditor sharing a video showing the rigorous selection process for Team Mongolia.
Article continues after ad
For context, Team Korea was accused of “cheating” before the finale even dropped, with some suggesting they may have had an unfair advantage. Following Quest 3, one took to TikTok to ask if there was “cheating” or “rigging” going down in the Totem and Rope Relay challenges.
“Korea been cheating since they selected their teams,” said one, while another wrote, “Next time they do a show like this, the country hosting should not be included in the games.” A third added, “This show is from Korea, of course they’ll make Korea in the final (or even winner).”
Article continues after ad
Since Korea was revealed as the winner, similar posts have been shared accusing Physical: Asia of being “rigged”, despite the fact that these allegations are baseless. Now, fans are fighting back, with the show’s subreddit moderators removing them.
Article continues after ad
As said by one, “Your post has been removed, because of the influx of posts regarding ‘rigging.’ Discussions or accusations focused on this topic has created arguments, negativity and misinformation without any verifiable, factual evidence.
“We want to maintain a respectful and constructive environment where discussions focus on the contestants and the enjoyment of the show.”
Article continues after ad
One of the main claims argues that Korea, as the host country, was given more opportunities than the other nations to select the strongest athletes for their team.
“It was kinda unfair because Korea cherry picked their participants from the previous two shows’ best contestants,” said one. “So it was so obvious that they’re gonna win. But congratulations to them.”
But another Redditor has since provided evidence to prove there was balance, at the very least between the two finalists: Korea and Mongolia.
Article continues after ad
Alongside a behind-the-scenes video on how Team Mongolia was formed, they wrote, “According to this video and other behind stories being shared online, if I were to roughly translate:
Article continues after ad
“‘A Mongol agency saw Physical: 100 Season 1 and wanted to propose a 50 Mongolians vs. 50 Koreans version of Physical: 100. But for three months, there was no response.
Netflix
“‘They persisted and finally got to contact the staff of Physical: 100 while they were filming Physical: 100 Season and join Physical: Asia. Mongolia created a National Project to pick the best six out of 200 candidates and filtered them out in three stages.
Article continues after ad
“‘Adiyasuren was training for the national judo team when asked to join Physical: Asia. Her coach said no and to only focus on training so the president of the Mongolian Judo Association stepped up to get her to join.’”
Following the translation, they said, “So to anyone saying it’s unfair that team Korea had better selection and didn’t have ‘lanky’ members, Team Mongolia was picked through a very arduous and meticulous process.
“I can’t speak for the selection process for the other countries, but they clearly fought their way to be here. Thank you President of the Mongolian Judo Association and the Mongol agency for pushing through and giving us our awesome Team Mongolia!”
Article continues after ad
Article continues after ad
Team Mongolia’s “special” selection process
Netflix
In a conversation with Deadline, producer Jang Ho-gi revealed that the selection process was equally meticulous for the other teams.
He explained that the producers sought “traditional sports legends of each country” to become the captain of each team, before balancing each group with athletes that showed different strengths and personalities.
“There were a lot of agencies and staff in different countries that would help us contact them and help us meet up with them,” said Jang.
Article continues after ad
“It was a little bit special [for Mongolia], because after maybe Season 1 or 2 wrapped, we were meeting with a lot of different people, including Mongolian government officials.
“They proposed to me that it would be fun to have 15 Mongolian athletes and 15 Korean athletes [compete], like Korea versus Mongolia. I said that it would be fun, but what’s more fun would also be having more countries and an Asian version.
“After we finalized that we were doing Physical: Asia, they helped to recommend us some of the athletes and people who would be great contestants.”
Article continues after ad
Article continues after ad
Physical: 100 is getting international spinoffs
Rasero/Guberti/GRM
If you’re wondering what’s next for the franchise, Physical: 100 Italy was announced by Netflix back in July, as was Physical: 100 USA.
The Italian iteration’s 100 contestants feature some big names such as Mirco Bergamasco, Tania Cagnotto, Elisabetta Canalis, Jury Chechi, Federica Pellegrini, Alvise Rigo, and Luis Sal.
While the cast has been decided, the American version is seeking applicants – you can find out more here.
Speaking about the expansion of the franchise, Jang said, “The whole tagline of the show is to transcend race, genders, and borders, so we always wanted to expand.
Article continues after ad
“We started very Korean-centered, but our entire goal was to slowly expand to other countries, with our spin-offs in the pipeline for Physical: US and Italy.
Rasero/Guberti/GRM
“We thought that instead of going for Physical: World from the get-go, maybe it’s better to start off with our neighboring nations first, which is how we came up with the idea of Physical: Asia.”
Article continues after ad
As for what could be next, he continued, “I get the most amount of messages from Brazilian fans, saying that they want to see a Physical: 100, Brazil version. I would love to see it too, because they are a sporting powerhouse and are big sports lovers.
Article continues after ad
“I also get a lot of people telling me that they want to see a Physical: 100 in the African region.”
Physical: Asia is streaming on Netflix now. For more, check out the Physical: 100 Season 2 contestants, whether Physical: 100 is scripted, and what Eddie Williams said about a potential Physical: Pacific spinoff.
