# Barefooted Friends

Barefooted Friends (Korean: 맨발의 친구들) was a South Korean reality-variety show; a part of SBS's Good Sunday lineup, along with Running Man. It was first aired on April 21, 2013. The show is a "real outdoor hardship variety"; a spin on typical outdoor variety shows. The members experience "real happiness" with others through challenges. The words, Barefooted is supposed to mean essence, sincerity, and real hardships, where as Friends not only represents the cast, but the people that are met as well. It has garnered attention as being the come-back program for Kang Ho-dong, the main MC of the program, after leaving Good Sunday's X-man in April 2007. After a seven-month run, the program was cancelled due to low ratings and to make room for K-pop Star 3, with the final episode airing on November 17, 2013.
In 2020, due to the requests of Kim Hyun-Joong's Japanese fans, after the completion of his previous Japanese variety show "Raw Hyun-Joong", the Japanese Cable Television "Satellite Theatre (Eisei Gekijo)" began to air Barefooted Friends from June 28 till July 28.

## Format
### Episode 1-6

A new life experience meeting new people in a new place, and exploring the cultural heritage and natural environment unseen elsewhere, the members search for real beauty and happiness on foreign soil. The members travel to foreign countries to experience "real happiness" with locals. Unlike typical vacations, they live like locals and experience what a day in their life is like. Members must provide for themselves as no support from staff is given. The members experience the essence of culture, food, music, nature, and lifestyle while surviving on their own in the foreign country. This program is a differentiated real variety program providing affection and enlightenment to viewers.

### Episode 7-31

The members take part in challenges based on different themes (diving, song writing, cooking, etc.).

## Cast

The original members of Barefooted Friends are Kang Ho-dong, Yoon Jong-shin, Yoo Se-yoon, Kim Bum-soo, Kim Hyun-joong, Yoon Si-yoon, Eunhyuk, Uee Unlike the other members, this is the first time Kim Bum-soo, Kim Hyun-joong, Yoon Si-yoon, and Uee are participating in a variety show as regulars, and the synergy effect between the experienced variety seniors and rookies are anticipated. As of June 9, 2013, Yoo Se-yoon has left the program due to his DUI case, and will not appear from episode 10. Eun Ji-won has replaced him. On June 11, 2013, Kim Bum-soo suffered an injury to his knee during the recording of the Diving Special and was transported to a hospital. He has since left the program. Eunhyuk has not appeared on the program since the diving special, and is presumed to have left the program. On October 31, 2013, it was announced that Kim Hyun-joong has completed his final filming of the program and will be leaving due to schedule conflicts, airing November 3.

## List of episodes
### 2013

| # | Episode # | Broadcast Date | Location | Guests | Mission |
| 1 | 1 | April 21, 2013 | Mui Ne & Huế, Vietnam | No guests | Live like a Vietnamese for 24 hours Find the greatest smile Have fun with Vietnamese people |
| 1 | 2 | April 28, 2013 | Mui Ne & Huế, Vietnam | No guests | Live like a Vietnamese for 24 hours Find the greatest smile Have fun with Vietnamese people |
| 1 | 3 | May 5, 2013 | Mui Ne & Huế, Vietnam | No guests | Live like a Vietnamese for 24 hours Find the greatest smile Have fun with Vietnamese people |
| 2 | 4 | May 12, 2013 | Yogyakarta, Indonesia | No guests | Live like an Indonesian for 24 hours Have fun with Indonesian children Catch the last flight to Korea |
| 2 | 5 | May 19, 2013 | Yogyakarta, Indonesia | No guests | Live like an Indonesian for 24 hours Have fun with Indonesian children Catch the last flight to Korea |
| 2 | 6 | May 26, 2013 | Yogyakarta, Indonesia | No guests | Live like an Indonesian for 24 hours Have fun with Indonesian children Catch the last flight to Korea |
| 3 | 6 | May 26, 2013 | Seoul | Lee Hyo-ri | Visit your home and earn money for the MT Get to know each other through the MT |
| 3 | 7 | June 2, 2013 | Seoul | Lee Hyo-ri | Visit your home and earn money for the MT Get to know each other through the MT |
| 3 | 8 | June 9, 2013 | Seoul | Lee Hyo-ri | Visit your home and earn money for the MT Get to know each other through the MT |
| 3 | 8 | June 9, 2013 | Jirisan | Lee Hyo-ri | Visit your home and earn money for the MT Get to know each other through the MT |
| 3 | 9 | June 16, 2013 | Jirisan | Lee Hyo-ri | Visit your home and earn money for the MT Get to know each other through the MT |
| 4 | 10 | June 23, 2013 | Gimcheon Indoor Swimming Pool Suwon World Cup Stadium Swimming Pool | No guests | Overcome the fear of diving |
| 4 | 11 | June 30, 2013 | Gimcheon Indoor Swimming Pool Suwon World Cup Stadium Swimming Pool | Kim Byung-man | Overcome the fear of diving |
| 4 | 12 | July 7, 2013 | Gimcheon Indoor Swimming Pool Suwon World Cup Stadium Swimming Pool | INFINITE, Lee Joon (MBLAQ), Jo Kwon (2AM), 2PM, Sistar, Rainbow | Overcome the fear of diving |
| 4 | 13 | July 14, 2013 | Gimcheon Indoor Swimming Pool Suwon World Cup Stadium Swimming Pool | INFINITE, Lee Joon (MBLAQ), Jo Kwon (2AM), 2PM, Sistar, Rainbow | Overcome the fear of diving |
| 4 | 14 | July 21, 2013 | Gimcheon Indoor Swimming Pool Suwon World Cup Stadium Swimming Pool | INFINITE, Lee Joon (MBLAQ), Jo Kwon (2AM), 2PM, Sistar, Rainbow | Overcome the fear of diving |
| 4 | 15 | July 28, 2013 | Gimcheon Indoor Swimming Pool Suwon World Cup Stadium Swimming Pool | No guests | Overcome the fear of diving |
| 5 | 16 | August 4, 2013 | SBS Deungchon-dong Open Hall | Dynamic Duo, Epik High, Duble Sidekick | Create and perform your own song |
| 5 | 17 | August 11, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Dynamic Duo, Epik High, Duble Sidekick | Create and perform your own song |
| 5 | 18 | August 18, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Dynamic Duo, Epik High, Duble Sidekick | Create and perform your own song |
| 6 | 18 | August 18, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Kim Na-woon | Making home cooked meals |
| 6 | 19 | August 25, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Kim Na-woon | Making home cooked meals |
| 6 | 19 | August 25, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Tony An, Moon Hee-joon | Making home cooked meals |
| 6 | 19 | August 25, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Hong Jin-kyung | Making home cooked meals |
| 6 | 20 | September 1, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Hong Jin-kyung | Making home cooked meals |
| 6 | 20 | September 1, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Kim Ji-hoon, Lee Ki-woo, Tak Jae-hoon | Making home cooked meals |
| 6 | 20 | September 1, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Jung Eun-ji, Lee Hye-jung | Making home cooked meals |
| 6 | 21 | September 8, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Jung Eun-ji, Lee Hye-jung | Making home cooked meals |
| 6 | 21 | September 8, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Jung Eun-ji, Bobby Kim, Gummy | Making home cooked meals |
| 6 | 22 | September 15, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Hong Seok-cheon, Fujita Sayuri, Kim Heung-kook | Making home cooked meals |
| 6 | 23 | September 22, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Shim Hye-jin, Jeong Jun-ha, Kim Young-chul | Making home cooked meals |
| 6 | 24 | September 29, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Hong Seo-beom, Jo Gap-kyeong, Jun Hyun-moo, Shim Yi-young | Making home cooked meals |
| 6 | 25 | October 6, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Kim Cheong, K.Will, Huh Gak, Bora | Making home cooked meals |
| 6 | 26 | October 13, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Kim Hyung-ja, Brian, Bada | Making home cooked meals |
| 6 | 27 | October 20, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Tae Jin-ah, Eru, Shin Hye-sung, Lee Min-woo, Sung Hoon | Making home cooked meals |
| 6 | 28 | October 27, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Park Jun-gyu, Han Eun-jung | Making home cooked meals |
| 6 | 29 | November 3, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Insooni, Hong Jin-young, Kim Ji-min | Making home cooked meals |
| 6 | 30 | November 10, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Kim Ga-yeon, Lim Yo-hwan, Lee Hyun-do, Choi Hong-man | Making home cooked meals |
| 6 | 31 | November 17, 2013 | Seoul (Various Celebrities Homes) | Kim Jung-nan, Shinee | Making home cooked meals |

## Ratings

In the ratings below, the highest rating for the show will in be red, and the lowest rating for the show will be in blue. Ratings listed below are the individual corner ratings of Barefooted Friends. (Note: Individual corner ratings do not include commercial time, which regular ratings include.)
| Episode # | Original Airdate | TNmS Ratings | TNmS Ratings | AGB Ratings | AGB Ratings |
| Episode # | Original Airdate | Nationwide | Seoul National Capital Area | Nationwide | Seoul National Capital Area |
| 1 | April 21, 2013 | 4.8% | 4.9% | 5.6% | 5.6% |
| 2 | April 28, 2013 | 4.3% | 5.3% | 5.1% | 5.1% |
| 3 | May 5, 2013 | 3.3% | 4.1% | 2.9% | 3.6% |
| 4 | May 12, 2013 | 4.2% | 4.4% | 4.7% | 5.5% |
| 5 | May 19, 2013 | 3.4% | 3.5% | 4.4% | 4.8% |
| 6 | May 26, 2013 | 3.4% | 3.8% | 5.4% | 7.0% |
| 7 | June 2, 2013 | 5.1% | 5.4% | 5.2% | 5.4% |
| 8 | June 9, 2013 | 4.8% | 4.8% | 5.6% | 6.0% |
| 9 | June 16, 2013 | 4.3% | 4.7% | 4.6% | 4.8% |
| 10 | June 23, 2013 | 5.5% | 5.8% | 5.6% | 6.4% |
| 11 | June 30, 2013 | 5.2% | 6.2% | 4.8% | 5.1% |
| 12 | July 7, 2013 | 5.6% | 5.8% | 6.6% | 7.0% |
| 13 | July 14, 2013 | 7.5% | 8.6% | 7.3% | 7.4% |
| 14 | July 21, 2013 | 5.9% | 6.5% | 6.0% | 6.1% |
| 15 | July 28, 2013 | 6.3% | 7.3% | 6.7% | 6.9% |
| 16 | August 4, 2013 | 5.4% | 6.0% | 3.4% | 5.0% |
| 17 | August 11, 2013 | 3.4% | 4.2% | 3.4% | 3.5% |
| 18 | August 18, 2013 | 3.7% | 4.9% | 4.0% | 4.5% |
| 19 | August 25, 2013 | 6.3% | 6.9% | 6.0% | 6.0% |
| 20 | September 1, 2013 | 5.5% | 6.2% | 5.8% | 5.9% |
| 21 | September 8, 2013 | 4.8% | 5.4% | 6.1% | 6.5% |
| 22 | September 15, 2013 | 5.0% | 6.1% | 5.3% | 5.5% |
| 23 | September 22, 2013 | 4.6% | 4.9% | 5.5% | 5.4% |
| 24 | September 29, 2013 | 5.1% | 5.9% | 6.2% | 5.6% |
| 25 | October 6, 2013 | 6.3% | 7.0% | 6.6% | 6.2% |
| 26 | October 13, 2013 | 4.8% | 5.6% | 5.2% | 5.3% |
| 27 | October 20, 2013 | 5.1% | 6.7% | 5.6% | 5.2% |
| 28 | October 27, 2013 | 6.5% | 7.6% | 7.9% | 8.0% |
| 29 | November 3, 2013 | 5.2% | 6.6% | 6.2% | 5.6% |
| 30 | November 10, 2013 | 4.2% | 5.3% | 4.7% | 5.1% |
| 31 | November 17, 2013 | 5.2% | 5.9% | 5.4% | 5.5% |

## Awards and achievements

| Year | Awards |
| 2013 | 1st Gimcheon International Masters Diving Competition (July 11) Special Award - Barefooted Friends members |
| 2013 | 2013 SBS Entertainment Awards (December 30) Producer Award - Kang Ho-dong |