According to Nielsen Korea, the first episode of Miss Trot 2 recorded 25.497% (part 1) and 28.649% (part 2) and soared up to 30.2% viewership nationwide. This is not only the series best ratings but also the highest among all the programs aired on the same day. Miss TrotŌĆśs first episode recorded 5.9%, and Mr. Trot showed a steep rise to 12.5%. This means that Miss Trot 2 started with ratings that are twice the previous record. However, soon after the broadcast, a post titled ŌĆ£Miss Trot 2 picked 100 applicants in advance and didnŌĆÖt even read some of the applicationsŌĆØ drew keen attention on online communities. According to the post, the show finished shooting the teasers of the 100 applicants on Oct 23, when the deadline for the applications was Oct 30. The first filming was scheduled for Nov 9, which means that the production team only had 9 days to go through all applications and select the ŌĆ£winners.ŌĆØ In a nutshell, some applicants were only exploited in increasing the competition rate to highlight the ŌĆ£success storyŌĆØ of the already-chosen members. Here are some of the comments: ŌĆ£So IŌĆÖm guessing this is the trot version of Produce case?ŌĆØ ŌĆ£CanŌĆÖt believe they are doing this even after the Produce incident.ŌĆØ ŌĆ£This is why I donŌĆÖt invest in audition shows. TheyŌĆÖre all fixed to some level.ŌĆØ ŌĆ£This is not the first time that this kind of controversy surfaced for the Trot series.ŌĆØ Source (1, 2)
