Squid Game: The Challenge reality show continues to be a hot mess

It comes as absolutely no surprise that Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge continues to be an absolute mess. Recently, news came out that the reality series was being filmed under dangerous and exploitative conditions. Riddle me that! I wonder why we didn’t see that coming?

An anonymous participant from the reality series spoke to Vice about the horrendous conditions that they endured, and it sounds over-the-top frightening. You would think the show wouldn’t take elements of the fictional series literally. Netflix, whatever are you doing!?

The unnamed participant shared shocking details about the Squid Game reality series, confirming what the British tabloid The Sun reported in regard to the conditions on set, including below-freezing temperatures the 456 contestants had to put up with during the “Red Light, Green Light” challenge.

Apparently, this reality show — which people entered in hopes of winning a $4.56 million prize — is scripted! “I started to realize, this was never a game I could win,” the participant shared. “I’m not a contestant, I’m an extra.”

"People were getting out and walking past me and saying, ‘This shit’s f**king rigged. I didn’t move.’ And then I watch people move not get eliminated."

According to the participant, before the first challenge, some folks in the cast were fitted with working microphones while others had prop packs that didn’t turn on. Some of the contestants applied for the show through targeted ads on Instagram while other members included twins, a father-child duo, and a TikTok celebrity, amongst others that the production contacted directly.

Netflix’s Squid Game reality show is reportedly rigged

Where it gets super dicey is that contestants compared notes with one another and found out that some of them had earlier flights than others. It was almost as if the production had pre-planned the order for who was leaving before the challenges even began. “I’m like, ‘Well, maybe it’s just cheaper for them to do that and do a change fee,’” mulled the participant. Maybe.

The participant also shared that eliminations were taken very seriously, with contestants still being eliminated even if they raised their hand to call for a medic on behalf of someone else who had collapsed from the cold. “I’m still ignorantly thinking it’s a game,” the participant said. “I’m like, ‘Oh my God, should I be a good person and yell ‘medic’ and risk getting eliminated?’”

As of now, the studio behind the show — Studio Lambert — has not commented on the allegations, but it doesn’t look good. “People broke their lease to be on this show,” the contestant said. “People quit their jobs. That’s the part to me that was sad. They made it seem like we all truly had a fair shot to actually win this money. It was already scripted. They already knew the people they wanted in the next round. That’s the part to me that was f**ked up.”

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h/t The A.V. Club