tvN’s fantasy romance series Bon Appetit, Your Majesty kicked off its journey in late August with K-drama icon Im Yoon Ah aka Yoona leading the charge as a steadfast chef who holds her own in both modern and historical eras. Beside the South Korean TV veteran star, rising actor Lee Chae Min stepped in as the “tyrant” Joseon King Yi Heon.

The task ahead of the Crushology 101 was not easy. He wasn’t merely brought in to match the beloved actress’ energy onscreen, but also to sweep up a controversy that could have blown up the show long before its premiere. As previously seen on Netflix‘s Hierarchy, Chae Min was introduced as the series’ male lead only a month before filming kicked off. Lee wasn’t even the first choice for the show because that spot originally belonged to the Squid Game star Park Sung Hoon.

However, as has been well established by Bon Appetit Your Majesty’s OTT run on Netflix, the previously-emerging controversy tied to Park’s name ultimately turned out to be a diamond-in-the-rough kind of opportunity for the K-drama’s creatives and executives. Ultimately finding all their answers in Lee Chae Min, not only did the show’s ratings gradually flew off the ground, they also gave the young actor a firm chance to finally own up his “breakout” status.

If 2024 was Byeon Woo Seok‘s year, then 2025 is clearly Lee Chae Min’s. Surprisingly enough, neither of the two actors was the first pick for their respective K-drama roles. But, all’s well that ends well.

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How Lee Chae Min replaced Park Sung Hoon only to become the heart of Bon Appetit Your Majesty

Although Yoona was the first one to make headlines in reports about her potential casting in the show, Lee Chae Min’s late entry ultimately became the beating heart of the K-drama. Last week, K-media outlet Sports Seoul reported that the Crash Course in Romance star had become an instant favourite of the K-drama industry thanks to his latest performance in the tvN title.

An insider spilled to the agency that Chae Min had received 30 scripts for upcoming projects, with both film and drama production teams chasing after him following his successful take-off. Lee was hard work and dedication personified as he committed himself to the role, mastering horseback riding, archery, action sequences and the traditional Korean mask dance called Cheoyongmu in the short window that was made available to him in light of his belated casting.

Bon Appetit Your Majesty viewership ratings

His attachment to the show became an undisputed buzzworthy topic of discussion every week as K-drama enthusiasts glued themselves to their screens to catch Chae Min in romantic action every Saturday and Sunday. Audience numbers speak for themselves. According to Nielsen Korea, the season, commencing on August 23, mounted moderately promising traction with an average nationwide TV viewership rating of 4.856%.

With each episode, the numbers simply grew (with some ups-and-downs), and by the 4th episode they ballooned into double digits. With the 10th episode on the broadcast list, these numbers had already soared to 15.75%. And then, Yoona and Chae Min blew out of the park, as the final and 12th episode airing on September 28 garnered average nationwide TV ratings of 17.1%, the highest so far.

In addition to ending on the highest ratings of its entire run, the show boasted a remarkable journey on Netflix. Just days ago, Variety reported that the Studio Dragon production held on to the top spot in Netflix’s global non-English rankings during weeks four and five ahead of the final two episodes’ premiere.

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Lee Chae Min leads brand rankings, defeats Squid Game icon

The Bon Appetit Your Majesty lead appears to have defeated the Squid Game franchise not once but twice. His first effort involved him replacing Park Sung Hoon after the older actor shared a pornographic parody of the Squid Game 2 poster on his personal social media profile. Although his management banner did its bit in cleaning up the mess, the controversy was enough to outrage the modesty of both local and international audiences.

Thereafter, Lee’s praiseworthy contributions to the show led him to beat Sung Hoon’s Squid Game Season 2 co-star Lee Byung Hun on the Brand Reputation Rankings board for the month of September 2025.

As per the Korean Business Research Institute, Lee – who has now gone viral for his latest K-drama outing – led the month’s list with a brand reputation index of 4,518,517. Meanwhile, Squid Game‘s much-dreaded ‘Front Man’ came in second with a score of 3,668,126. Another rising actor, Choo Young Woo, took the third spot, while Lee Jin Wook and Ma Dong Seok stood at ranks #4 and #5, respectively.

It’s safe to say that Lee Chae Min’s portrayal of his “tyrant” character’s inner complexity has not only won over the hearts of fans and industry insiders, but also proved that first choices aren’t necessarily the best ones.