Squid Game, a Korean television series on Netflix, came out September 2021 and became one of the most viral shows of the year. The basic premise of the show is that 456 contestants, who are all in need of financial help, enter a series of life-or-death children’s games such as “Red Light, Green Light.” If the contestants win the game, they move on to the next one; if not, they are shot. At the end, one winner gets the big prize of 45.6 billion South Korean won.
In 2022, Netflix decided to create a reality competition version called “Squid Game: The Challenge” where 456 actual people from around the world would compete for US $4.56 million, which is the largest single cash prize in reality TV history. Casting began in June of 2022, and ended in September. According to Netflix, they received over 81,000 applications. Filming began in January of 2023 in London.
Everything seems like it all went well, right? Well, according to multiple contestants who were on “Squid Game: The Challenge,” the conditions they had to deal with–both during challenges and down time–were horrific.
The first game the contestants participated in was the classic “Red Light, Green Light.” On the edited show, production said contestants had 5 minutes to get across the arena without being caught by the robot. According to the contestants, the competition actually lasted over 7 hours. During some of the red lights, contestants had to hold their pose for over 30 minutes, which eventually caused some of them to be eliminated.
Contestants lived on set in a dorm room almost exactly the same as the one on the original show. There were cameras filming the contestants 24 hours a day, similar to shows such as CBS’s “Big Brother” and “Survivor.” Many of the contestants have gone on TikTok and other social media websites complaining about the conditions they were forced to live in during the show. For example, they were subjected to bright fluorescent lights pretty much 24/7. The lights were dimmed a bit during the night, but on nonetheless.
According to Dr. Ankur Khajuria (known as Player 090), every morning the contestants were fed the same thing: a simple bowl of porridge, which Dr.Khajuria described in his interview with Metro as “stale.” Khajuria said, “A lot of people couldn’t bear the taste and they would give it to someone else.”
Lunch and dinner weren’t much of an improvement. Khajuria told Metro that contestants were served rice and a protein, usually either eggs or meatballs. “There were even times where the proportions were slightly different between the players,” Khajuria said, “and I don’t know if it was done deliberately to create drama.”
Contestants endured chapped lips because the filming stage was always kept cooler for the filming equipment and they had not been allowed to bring any personal items with them, including lip balm. Further, the contestants were given one outfit for the whole 16-day game, with no spare change of clothing.
Almost a full year after recording the show, winner Mai Whelan (also Known as Player 287), still hasn’t received her prize money. Most shows, like “Survivor” give their winners the prize within a few days or weeks at most.
Casting/production for season 2 of “Squid Game: The Challenge” is currently going on, and the season will most likely premiere in the 4th quarter of 2024. Netflix has also announced that season 2 of the original “Squid Game” will air in 2024, as well. There is not an official release date for either show.
