'I was in Squid Game Challenge - tough dorm rules, game tactics and big regret'
As a fierce competitor, the chance to win $4.56million in a game show was a no-brainer for Elliott Burgess. Brought up by his dad from the age of 11 following his parents' divorce, he instilled a competitive nature in Elliott who strived for a challenge.
But never did he think he could get so close to claiming a truly life-changing sum as he did in Squid Game The Challenge. The Netflix show, based on the original hit Korean drama of the same name, saw 456 people, suited in iconic green tracksuits, compete in a series of chance and strategy games to claim the coveted prize pot.
Each time a player was eliminated after being unsuccessful, $10,000 was added to the pile of bank notes stashed inside the enormous piggy bank hanging temptingly above the dormitory. Elliott, from Esher, Surrey, made it to the penultimate challenge and came in 7th place after winner Mai knew it was him who placed that fateful box on her chair - all thanks to his sketchy beard scratch.
Elliott almost had his hands on $4.56million on Squid Game Challenge (Netflix)
He wanted to win the prize pot to repay his father after bringing him up (Elliott Burgess)As applications remain open for the next series, we asked him what it is really like to take part. Here is everything you need to know from what you can take in with you, and how alliances are formed, to the secrets behind the games...
Elliott, 32, who was allocated player number 429, says he saw the advert for the show online and considered the application process pretty straightforward - consisting of a personal statement, video, and interview stages. He made it to the standby list and informed his boss about the opportunity - who gave him the green light to take a break from his sales job.
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Luckily, just two days before filming commenced, Elliott got the call that he'd made the cast and headed to the London studios for filming - which took around four weeks in total. As viewers at home were astounded by how similar the set looked to the real show, for those taking part, it was like nothing they'd seen before.
"It was the most overwhelming thing I've ever seen it was so surreal," Elliott told the Mirror. "When we first walked into that set of red light green light challenge, it was massive, huge, it was exactly like in the show. I walked in like 'this is unreal.' When you get in there you just don't know how you're going to tackle it."
The only preparation Elliott claims to have done is to have watched the series twice over again, as he says it was "impossible" to know what was coming. His 'game plan' was to keep under the radar in the dorm, which is why he believes he didn't get much air time until the latter episodes. While it wasn't shown, he'd formed an 'alliance' with Hallie and Roland, who also exited in the same challenge.
He says these friendships formed after meeting people at the hotel in the few days prior and being set up in the green room with a mic before the first game. There's also a chance to meet people on the bus on the way to the dorm, as the first game was filmed in Bedford.
"My strategy in the dorms was to try and stay under the radar as much as possible. However, naturally, you just start having conversations with anyone at any time that you can because that was part of it," he explained. "We had to try and entertain ourselves by meeting as many people as possible. There were different areas where certain people would sit together, you could definitely tell who was forming an alliance."
While to viewers it may have appeared overdramatic to see contestants crying after seeing their mates of a couple of days forced to leave, it's easy to understand how bonds developed. Elliott says that games would take place every other day, with the rest of the time spent in bunks alongside their rivals.
The 32-year-old Brit intended to stay under the radar in the dorms (Netflix)They had to think of things to do to entertain themselves, from playing makeshift football to a huge game of volleyball with a net made out of socks. They were allowed 10 minutes of fresh air every two days and had no contact with the outside world. While it sounds like he was living in prison-like conditions for the show, Elliott commends the welfare available from the production.
Despite the elaborate sets, their day-to-day was stripped back to basics, with players allocated a wash bag with essential toiletries - a comb, toothbrush and toothpaste - and their uniform, which was washed every couple of days, while they were supplied with clean underwear. The only permitted item was prescribed medication.
They had no sense of time, with the masked men dictating lights out, with Elliott assuming he had enough shut-eye. But he was left "starving." He recalled: "It was tough because they had to keep it as immersive as possible. It's $4.56m, they're not just going to give you that for free. They had to make it as challenging as possible".
On the menu was bland porridge for breakfast, rice with fish or meat for lunch, and for dinner, it would be rice and egg or bland pasta. After successfully passing through from Red Light, Green Light; Decision test; Dalgona; Phone test; Warship; Vote test; Jack-in-the-box test; Marbles; Allegiance test; Glass Bridge - where Elliott reveals stunt doubles were used for the filming of players falling - Die Test, and finally Circle of Trust, he argues there is no guarantee or strategy with them.
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"I don't think you can have a strategy with the game specifically. I think that's always just you go into the game. You try and remember what you remember from the show. In the dorms, you don't want to be a big personality as you see what happens to those people, they make themselves a target. And in the games, you can't really have a strategy other than go into in and try your absolute hardest not to get eliminated".
And does it feel like you're fighting for your life like in the original show? "They make it as stressful as possible," he commented. "The build-up, waiting for the game is so, so intense, like the filming process in Dalgona, that whole process took about seven hours because we had to do it in groups of people. I wouldn't say life and death but it certainly feels very close to that."
When Elliott left filming in February, he felt proud of what he'd accomplished. But then over the following few months, as he reflected on the experience, he started to play back his every move and question how different the outcome could have been if he'd played his cards differently.
Elliott picked winner Mai, and lost it all (Netflix)While he says he has learnt so much about himself after taking part, and would encourage anyone to do the same, his biggest regret was picking Mai in his final challenge. "It's been a rollercoaster of emotions since coming out of that game", Elliott, who had to keep his stint quiet until the show went live, said.
"When I first came out I was so happy, what an unreal experience, and then after three months I was like, s***," he reflected. "I think I played the other games perfectly. The biggest regret I have is the Circle of Trust game.
"I shouldn't have picked Mai, it was silly. My initial thought was to pick Hallie or Rose. I didn't really know Rose and hadn't had many conversations with her so I thought she wouldn't know it was me. But when I got chosen and got up, for some reason I just went 'you know what, Mai would be really good here.' I didn't realise she was a trained adjudicator.
"Looking back, I thought I looked really guilty. It was too obvious. A lot of games were going on around us as well - Ashley saying she was going to look guilty to get Mai out, that happened a couple of other times as well. In the end, she just read me scratching my beard and twitching my eye and shaking too well. That was my biggest regret."
He added: "You're like 'wow I was that close to winning $4.6m and losing it', that was really heartbreaking. I did go through a period where I was like I properly f****d up there. At least now I can say I went out to the winner at least."
Elliott, who admits he was team Phil, revealed that a lot of the players suspected Mai would make it all the way, saying: "A lot of us had an inkling - she kept her cards close to her chest, utilised relationships in their very well and played the games very well."
Since the show has gone live, and after receiving a psychology analysis from experts as part of the package from production, Elliott is "proud" of how he handled himself. He's also gained some fans online with messages he jokingly wished not to disclose, while people from his past have been back in touch like old-school friends after spotting Elliott on screen.
He's back to his 9 til 5 but it might not be the last we see of the game player, as he's already applying for BBC's The Traitors. "To anyone thinking about going on Squid Game, I'd say definitely do it - you'll have the most amazing experience".
If you're interested in taking part in Squid Game The Challenge, you can read the story below to find out how to apply.
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