Kazakhstani Medet Serik is an IT consultant for one of the leading Chinese companies and has repeatedly been featured in Forbes Kazakhstan publications. In 2022, he made it to the "30 Under 30" list. Originally from Zhezkazgan, he has lived and worked in China for the past 11 years, specifically in Shenzhen, which is also known as the "Silicon Valley of China." Medet is responsible for developing strategies and managing relationships with executives from Fortune 500 companies. His primary task is to find solutions for the digital transformation of the largest global corporations and to communicate the advantages of various high-tech solutions to the top executives of these companies.
Medet requested not to disclose the name of the company he currently works for, as doing so would violate the terms of the Heart Signal television project, of which he became a participant in 2024. It is worth noting that the company he works for is one of the global giants.
The reality show Heart Signal has been airing for seven years. In it, six guys and six girls live in the same house for a month and must find a partner during that time. The project is in Chinese, but recently, episodes have started to be posted in the Russian-speaking segment of social networks with subtitles. Because of this, Heart Signal has become popular not only in China but also in many countries, including Kazakhstan. In 2024, Kazakh fans were in for a surprise as one of the show's participants was their compatriot. Moreover, Medet is the first foreigner in the entire history of the project.
One of Us Among Outsiders
Medet was, of course, aware of Heart Signal. After all, it is one of the most popular reality shows in China! He wasn't a fan of the show but occasionally watched episodes to improve his Chinese language skills, as the show is primarily based on everyday dialogues.
— After ten years of living in China, I decided to create a profile on the local equivalent of Instagram, the social network Little Red Book. There are over 200 million registered users from China. I posted a few selfies and wrote two posts. I didn’t become instantly popular, but there was some activity: likes, follows. At one point, I received a message from the organizers of Heart Signal inviting me to participate in the show, — Medet recounts.
The sender of the message suggested that Medet meet in a café to discuss the details. However, our hero ignored this letter, thinking it was a scam. But a couple of weeks later, the invite was sent again.
— I thought it couldn’t be a coincidence. I replied, attended the meeting, and only when I saw the film crew did I realize: this is serious. I was immediately warned that our conversation would be filmed in case I passed the selection round and it would be included in the show, — my interviewee shares.
The negotiations with the producer lasted about two hours, and the questions were varied: from standard inquiries about biography and occupation to personal ones about love and dreams. After this meeting, there were several more interviews, and ultimately Medet was informed that he had passed the casting and would be one of the twelve participants in the project.
— I didn’t expect to make it to the final. Only after I was told did I start to study the essence of the project in detail. That’s when I realized I was the first foreigner in the entire history of the show, — says Medet.
The guy began bombarding the producers with questions: why did they decide to include him in the project, considering his imperfect level of Chinese, cultural differences, and other "peculiarities."
— I told them right away that my Chinese isn’t perfect; I know many other foreigners whose language skills are much better. Besides, I’m not young anymore, — says 31-year-old Medet. — Participants in this project are usually younger, often under 25.
Our hero tried in every way to convince the project authors of the "non-viability" of his candidacy, but they were adamant. So, I, asking the same questions as Medet, directed them straight to Chao Gu, the producer of Tencent Video, the company producing Heart Signal.
— We were very lucky to have stumbled upon Mi Die's page ( this is how Medet was referred to on the show — F ) on social media. During our numerous conversations, I realized he is very interesting and unique. When we touched on the topic of relationships and asked about potential difficulties due to cultural and national differences, he confidently noted that sincerity between people is more important than any differences and that a passport doesn’t matter. His views on love and relationships were beautifully and simply expressed, quoting a phrase from "The Little Prince": "We are responsible for those we tame," — said Chao Gu.
According to Chao Gu, a team of 30 directors worked on selecting participants, who spent more than six months researching potential candidates both on social media and in real life. The producer notes that "it was a challenging task" since they were looking for interesting non-media people. After selecting a potential candidate, they go through up to ten rounds of interviews. Chao Gu says that this work takes up 70% of the team’s time and effort.
— Since this is a reality show, it’s important for participants to express their feelings and thoughts so that viewers can see genuine emotions, rather than "puppets." Throughout the show, our team tries to stay in the background so as not to interfere with participants interacting with each other. Those who watched the show will find that Mi Die is quite modest and shy, but every time he starts to share something, his manner of speaking makes people listen attentively. This quality was very important to us, — concluded Chao Gu.
“I See You Well”
— Okay, the organizers liked you, but why did you agree to this "adventure"? — I ask Medet, expecting to hear something about interest, popularity, or, at the very least, a new experience. I heard none of that.
— I had hope. It was time for me to get married. Not because someone is reminding me about it. I came to this conclusion myself. I’ve worked hard all my life, then built a career in another country while simultaneously learning languages and settling in. There was never any time for a personal life. And now, it’s also difficult to find time for that due to my work schedule. So I hoped that I could build a relationship through this project. Especially since there are examples of participants who created families after the show ended. I was found by chance, and I thought: maybe this is fate? In any case, I had nothing to lose, — Medet confessed.
Even this project had to be combined with work. Filming lasted a month and mostly took place in the evenings and on weekends since all participants would go about their daily routines and offices during the day and then return to the house for filming. At the same time, discussing their companies was prohibited to prevent the project’s heroes from forming biased opinions about each other and to allow them to reveal their personal qualities. However, it was not easy to open up.
— If we draw a line, all participants, conditionally, start from zero, while I started from minus one. I needed to prove that even though I’m a foreigner, I understand Chinese culture, share similar life values, priorities, etc. In other words, what is unnecessary to explain among Chinese citizens, I had to articulate. Besides, we all came from different fields and initially had little in common. I’d say that in ordinary life, I probably would never have crossed paths with these people, — Medet believes.
With each new filming day, communication became easier, and the other participants began to "study" Medet themselves, as they knew nothing about Kazakhstan or its culture.
— On one of the dates, a girl asked me to talk about the peculiarities of Kazakh culture. So I mentioned that in our language, there isn’t a direct phrase for "I love you"; we have a phrase that means love but translates literally to "I see you well" ( Мен сені жақсы көремін — F ). When that episode aired, this fact and phrase caused a real sensation in China. All social media exploded with that excerpt, and viewers began commenting with "I see you well" instead of "I love you," and hashtags with that phrase emerged. I even received videos where a Chinese singer told the audience, "I see you all well today" from the stage. In general, it became a kind of slogan for the project, — Medet