Fantasy Boys

Fantasy Boys is a 2023 South Korean reality competition program created by MBC. It aired on MBC TV from March 30 to June 8, 2023, every Thursday at 22:00 (KST). The finale was broadcast live and announced the twelve final members to formed the final group, Fantasy Boys. The show serves as a sequel to My Teenage Girl, this time featuring all male contestants.

Concept and format
In June 2022, the production company, Phunky Studios, held meetings with 53 entertainment agencies to discuss the production of a male version of My Teenage Girl. A month later, it was announced that over 1,000 trainees from all over the world, including Japan, China, the United States, Australia, and Thailand, had applied for the privately held global auditions Any boys aged 14 and over, regardless of nationality, were eligible to audition. Further contestants were originally scheduled to be recruited through public auditions from November 18 to December 16, 2022, but the recruitment period was later extended to December 31.

The show's goal is to create a global K-pop boy group composed of trainees from all around the world. Aside from regular promotions, the new boy group will also participate in webtoon character, game, digital content, and NFT (Non-Fungible Token) projects.

Promotion and broadcast
In November 2022, the program's title was confirmed as Fantasy Boys and multiple teaser videos were released between November 18 and December 2, 2022. On February 20, 2023, profile photos and videos for the 55 contestants were released through the official website and social media accounts. The music video for the theme song "FANTASY" was released on the 27th. On March 6, Phunky Studio announced that in addition to the music video, a special performance video for "FANTASY" would be released. Filming for the video took place at a large-scale set at a gym in Gyeonggi Province from March 6–7.

On March 1, an offline high-touch meeting entitled 'Hi! Fantasy' was held prior to the show's premiere at the COEX Convention & Exhibition Center. Over 5,000 fans from around the globe applied for the event.

On March 17, it was announced that the broadcast of the first episode of Fantasy Boys would be postponed from March 23 to March 30 because a global OTT platform had agreed to simultaneously broadcast the program worldwide. Fantasy Boys is being simulcast through MBC TV and Naver NOW in South Korea, Abema in Japan, and iQIYI in 12 more countries, namely Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.

Cast

 * Host: Changmin
 * Main Producers (also known as Mentors):
 * Jang Woo-young
 * Jeon So-yeon
 * Jin-young
 * Kang Seung-yoon
 * Rap Teachers:
 * Hanhae
 * Kebee
 * Vocal Teachers:
 * Jang Jin-young
 * Park Su-min
 * Jeong Woong-min
 * Dance Teachers:
 * Yoo Kwang-yeol
 * Lee Kwang-taek
 * Guest:
 * Choi Min-ho (Special host; Episodes 5–6)

Contestants
The English spelling of the Korean and Chinese contestants' names are presented in Eastern order according to the official website, while the Japanese contestants' names are presented in Western order. The Korean names of the non-Korean contestants are listed along with their names in their native languages.


 * Color Key

Top 12

 * Color key

Producer Pick
The main producer for each semester chooses a contestant to send through to the next round.

Aftermath

 * Fantasy Boys to debut on September 21, 2023.
 * Yu Jun-won (1st) left the debut lineup on August 23, 2023, following several disagreements Junwon and his parents had with PocketDol Studio regarding his contract.


 * Some contestants returned to their original groups:
 * Moon Hyun-bin (13th) returned to Ciipher.
 * Some contestants left their companies or joined new ones:
 * Kang Dae-hyun transferred from Urbans Works Ent to DSP Media and subsequently to RBW, expecting to debut in RBW's new boy group in October 2023.
 * Kim Kyu-hyun left Redstart ENM.
 * Seo Sang-woo left One Cool Jacso Entertainment.
 * Some contestants will debut or debuted in new boy groups or released music as solo artists:
 * Park hyung-geun, Kang Dae-hyun and Hwang Jae-min will debut in RBW's new boy group this October (2023).
 * Some contestants will participate in upcoming survival shows:
 * Park Min-geun and Jung Goo-hyun will participate as contestants in MBC M's show "Fan Pick".