'I was in Squid Game: The Challenge and it felt just like the original series'
Squid Game saw players risk their lives to win a life-changing £3.6million ($4.56million) when the fictional series launched on Netflix in 2021.
Real-life people were given the chance to scoop the same staggering cash prize in the streaming site's latest spin-off, The Challenge. Now, one contestant tells The Mirror that taking part felt just like the original South Korean-dubbed series.
Following the nail-biting final episode, which saw 55-year-old Mai Whelan crowned the winner and a subsequent multimillionaire, player 018 Bee Dee joined us for an exclusive sit-down chat about taking part in this year's games, offering her advice to anyone thinking of applying for the upcoming second instalment.
Bee almost made it to the nail-biting Squid Game final (NETFLIX)She almost made it all the way to the end, losing at the roll of a dice. A savage end that Bee says only added to the sense of realism from the Netflix recreation. Players in the original series would lose their life when eliminated, but Bee says she didn't take it "that seriously".
Speaking of the set design, she told The Mirror: "It was identical from an audience perspective. It felt like I was literally in the show, especially games like marbles. And what's fascinating is that they went beyond what the show did, because the show only had to use like one or two walls anyway. So for them to have done a 360 set, working plumbing, operational bathroom, that looks exactly like the show. It felt absolutely incredible."
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Explaining her experience of the first trial, Red Light, Green Light, Bee added: "I think the first thing most of us thought once we were there was, you know, obviously it was stunning, amazing. The colours are amazing, the little details of the houses on the side looking exactly like the show was fantastic. But what you don't see on the show is how far the run [in the Red Light, Green Light game] really is when you get in.
"So, for a lot of us were like, 'Whoa, okay, that's not close', because initially it doesn't seem like much of a distance. But it really is." Bee says all 456 players began filming in the morning and by the time they'd finished, it was pitch black.
Opening up about feeling she was in a 'life or death' situation, the contestant explained: "I didn't personally [feel like that]. I never really took it that seriously from a life or death perspective or even in like caring about the money perspective, I suppose.
Nearly 200 players were initially placed into the dorm together (NETFLIX)"But you know, you do get emotional, the stakes are high when it's your friends and stuff leaving when you've been together for a while and they've been your only company. So in that way, things get quite stressful. But not so much in the serious nature of feeling like I'm at risk or anything you know."
Detailing dorm life, Bee said walking in for the first time was "super weird". She added: "It felt quite small for the number of people. But when you're thinking 'I'm living with 200 people', you don't really expect it to be a space where you are stacked on top of each other, like on four bunk beds. I know, that's what the show was like. But in the back of your head, you always think there's no way they've really done that.
"And so there was a lot of that in it. Like, there's no way we've really got four layers of bunk beds. And there's no way that the walls have the same drawings on from the show. But it was all completely the same. So we were pretty dumbfounded. And everyone started putting their jackets down on the beds to try and like reserve them, that was quite funny. Obviously, we were like, what if they don't have enough beds for all of us that people are gonna get eliminated? It was a very conspiracy-filled first day."
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