Netflix, following the success of their original “Squid Games” hit series based in South Korea back in 2021, decided to recreate the show using real people in a reality TV show format with over 455 people competing for a cash prize called Squid Game: The Challenge. The show, which started filming in London in January 2023, has kept the name of the winner secret since they finished filming to ensure that the show wasn’t spoiled, but now that the show is over we know who won!
Who won the Squid Game: The Challenge?
Unlike the original 2021 series which was won by the fictional character Seong Gi-hun, the 2023 reality-based Squid Games was won by none other than Mai Whelan, a 55-year-old Vietnam-born US Navy veteran resident of the DMV area. Winning the competition which included a series of trials, tests, and what seemed like tribulations, Mai was able to represent the DMV area as a champion and secure herself the 4.5 million U.S. Dollar grand prize for finishing in first place! In the process, she marked her spot in history claiming the biggest cash prize ever distributed in reality TV.
Mai Whelan is a resident of Fairfax County, VA where she works as an immigration adjudicator for the Department of Homeland Security. She immigrated to the United States back in 1975 at the age of only eight years old with her family following the fall of Saigon, which she spoke about during the show as a traumatic experience.
She claimed that she plans to use the money to renovate her Virginia home to make it more comfortable for herself, her husband, and their two dogs. However, since coming out as the winner she’s also mentioned that she wants to use the money to support good causes, like (helping) “people, animals, and climate change,”.
What events did they do in the Squid Games reality TV Show?
While it should be obvious, we can certainly say that losing in this version of the Squid Games DID NOT result in certain death for anyone who was disqualified or who lost in any of the competitions, they were simply sent home missing out on the chance for the cash prize. That being said, the reality TV version of Squid Games did use a lot of the same events as the 2021 original series, including the giant game of red-light green-light, trying to extract the outlined shape in the honeycomb candy without breaking it, and even the glass bridge complete with faulty panels.