Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS for Squid Game: The Challenge.
Squid Game: The Challenge capitalizes on the hit sensation of the 2021 thriller series Squid Game, turning a disturbing drama about societal inequality into a reality competition show with a prize of $4.56 million. It’s the largest cash prize Netflix has offered for a reality series; Netflix’s other competition series The Circle and Too Hot to Handle both start their prize offerings at $100,000. Unlike other Netflix series, Squid Game: The Challenge will released in batches rather than all at once, with the first batch dropping November 22nd, the second on November 29th, and the third on December 6th.
One thing Squid Game: The Challenge does not lack is interesting and relatable contestants, two of which are Dani and Spencer. Both were eliminated during one of the Squid Game show challenges adapted for the reality competition: each cracked a shape they had to extract from a Dalgona cookie. Still, both Dani and Spencer made quite the impression, with Dani facing the show’s first rule-twisting ‘test’, and Spencer betting against the unforgiving house rules.
Screen Rant interviewed Dani and Spencer about returning to normal life and being immersed in the world of Squid Game.
Dani And Spencer Talk Squid Game: The Challenge
Screen Rant: For this show, you had to go through this crazy audition process, [and] get thrown into this thing where stuff is getting thrown at you all the time. There are all these personalities, there’s also the TV side, where you’re getting interviewed, wardrobe, all the things, and then it’s over and you can’t talk to anyone about it. How was it to transition back to real life?
Dani: Oh, jeez. It was an experience for me. I didn’t even tell my family or friends I was coming home, because I was just so overstimulated from this experience. They took our phones away in the experience. That was one thing that really surprised me about the experience: I really enjoyed not having my cell phone 24/7. It gave me a chance to get to know people on a real level and listen to them–active listening. When I did get out of the game and they did return our phones, I tried to not look at it as much as possible. Then, when I did return home, I stayed offline for probably two weeks.
Spencer: I think for me, the biggest thing coming away from the show was, because of some of the conversations I had with other contestants there, I was able to realize that I was in a toxic relationship. I was no longer able to ignore that fact, and I tried to see if that could make the relationship healthy again, but ultimately, I had to move on. Along with that, I just had recovered from cancer a few years prior, and been focused on adding good things into my life. I realized that I become complacent, and this show provided another opportunity for me to focus again on investing in myself. I have, since then, begun producing a play that I wrote years ago as well as working on publishing a book. So, a lot of good things.
In terms of gameplay, Dani, you got the first test in the show and chose to eliminate someone. There’s an interview with you where you’re saying it’s kind of karma that it then came back to you, how do you feel now about the choice that you made?
Dani: I think, if I did that experience again, I probably would have made the same decision. I’m a huge game nerd, so I love being cutthroat in games when we play game night, and I love reality TV shows, competition shows, and things like that. So, I think I probably would have made the same decision, but I always will have regret for the decision I made.
The difference is, when you’re playing game night at your friend’s, you’re still going to be friends at the end of the day. But this is a real life that you’re messing with, even though it is a game. This is somebody that flew to London to compete in this game, put their life on pause to have this experience, and you took it away from them. So, I do have a little bit of regret with that.
Spencer, there’s this moment in the show where the ink pack on the person next to you goes off when you’re [cutting out] the umbrella, and your face… what is the feeling of seeing the person next to you get eliminated when it’s also something that you were kind of forced into choosing in the first place?
Spencer: I like to think that any difficulty for myself is something I can handle, but something where that weight is on someone else’s shoulders just becomes so much bigger, if that makes sense.
About Squid Game: The Challenge
456 real players will enter the competition show in pursuit of a life-changing reward of USD $4.56 million. As they compete through a series of games inspired by the original show – plus surprising new additions – their strategies, alliances, and character will be put to the test while competitors are eliminated around them.
Check out our other Squid Game: The Challenge interviews:
- Bryton
