May Bee: 'I Found Out I Was Getting Married by Watching TV'

Most celebrity love stories come with grand gestures, lavish dates, and carefully orchestrated proposals. May Bee and Yoon Sang-hyun had none of that — and yet, what they have built over more than a decade of marriage tells a far more compelling story than any scripted romance ever could.

On July 25, the singer and lyricist May Bee appeared on broadcaster Lee Geum-hee's YouTube channel, where she opened up with rare candor about how she and actor Yoon Sang-hyun went from strangers to husband and wife in what felt like the blink of an eye. The details she shared were as unexpected as the romance itself.

Three Dates Was All It Took

For a couple that has been married since 2015 and raised three children together, the backstory of their courtship is remarkably brief. "It's kind of unusual, which is what makes it fun," May Bee said, explaining that the two of them only went on about three proper dates before getting married. By most standards, that is barely enough time to learn someone's coffee order — let alone commit to a lifetime together.

Their introduction came through an unlikely go-between: Yoon Sang-hyun's own manager. The manager happened to be close friends with May Bee and, knowing that the actor had frequently expressed a desire to settle down and get married, decided to make a match. "His manager was a close friend of mine," May Bee recalled. "Since my husband often said he really wanted to get married soon, she introduced us."

But the connection was not instant. Yoon Sang-hyun, known for his dashing roles in dramas like My Love from the Star and Secret Garden, admitted to May Bee that she was not his type at first. He had pictured someone with a healthier, fuller figure, whereas May Bee was quite slender at the time they met. "He says I wasn't his type initially," she laughed, recounting the confession without any apparent embarrassment.

What changed his mind was distance, not proximity. Even when they were apart and not in direct contact, he found himself unable to stop thinking about her. "He told me that even though we weren't meeting, he kept thinking about me," May Bee said. "And then he reconsidered — he thought, 'This is someone I could actually marry.'"

The Announcement She Heard on Television

What happened next is the kind of thing that makes their story feel almost too cinematic to be true. Yoon Sang-hyun appeared on the popular Korean variety show Healing Camp and, without prior discussion with May Bee, announced to the entire country that there was someone in his life he planned to marry.

May Bee found out by watching the broadcast herself. "I was watching the show and thought — wait, am I the one getting married?" she said, her tone somewhere between disbelief and amusement. It was a moment that would have rattled most people, but she described it with a warmth that suggests it became part of the fabric of their unique story.

From that point, events moved with dizzying speed. The formal introduction of families — what Koreans call sanggyeonrye — followed shortly after, and before May Bee had fully caught her breath, she was walking down the aisle. "By the time I came to my senses, I was already walking into the wedding hall," she said. "Everything happened in the blink of an eye."

The couple's MBTI types, she noted, are complete opposites — a detail that made the speed of their union all the more remarkable. Yet she credits their differences as one of the reasons their bond has held. "We're so different in every way," she said. "But getting to know each other more deeply only happened after we were already married."

A Honeymoon That Defied Every Expectation

If the whirlwind courtship was unexpected, the honeymoon was even more so. The mid-2010s were a period when Korean celebrity couples commonly chose Phuket, Maldives, or other aspirational beach destinations for their first trip as newlyweds. May Bee had quietly hoped for something similar. Instead, Yoon Sang-hyun proposed Gyeongju.

The ancient capital of the Silla Kingdom, Gyeongju is beloved for its Buddhist art, UNESCO-listed royal tombs, and serene temple architecture — not exactly the setting most brides envision for their honeymoon. "I was expecting somewhere like Phuket," May Bee admitted. "But he told me he loves Buddhist art and suggested Gyeongju." Her initial confusion quickly gave way to something more meaningful.

Yoon Sang-hyun's wedding gift to his new bride? A set of hiking clothes. The two spent part of their honeymoon scaling a mountain together, stopping at a Buddhist temple to pray before descending. It was humble, quiet, and entirely sincere. "We went up the mountain, visited a temple, and prayed," she recalled.

The story came full circle years later, in a moment that clearly moved her deeply. "Recently, we took the children back to that same mountain," she said, her voice softening. "Watching my husband climb with the children's shadows in his arms — seeing his back from behind as he held them — I was truly moved." The image she painted — a father carrying the weight and warmth of family on an autumn trail — resonated far more than any luxury resort could have.

What a Fast Love Actually Looks Like

May Bee and Yoon Sang-hyun married in 2015 and are now parents to three children: one son and two daughters. By all accounts, the life they have built together is one grounded in shared values, adaptability, and genuine affection — qualities that were perhaps always present, even if the timeline to discover them was compressed.

Their story challenges some of the assumptions Korean celebrity culture tends to make about romance: that courtship must be prolonged, that proposals must be perfectly staged, and that honeymoons must be extravagant. Three dates, a surprise TV announcement, a mountain hike, and a temple prayer were enough to begin something that has lasted more than a decade.

May Bee said it herself with quiet certainty: getting to know a person does not always require months of careful courtship. Sometimes, it happens in the spaces in between — across the distance of not seeing each other, in the slow discovery that comes after the wedding vows are already spoken, and on the slope of a mountain you both chose to climb together.