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Squid Game: The Challenge Contestants Spill What Filming Was Really Like
30 November 2023, 13:30 | Updated: 30 November 2023, 16:18
Three of the 456 'Squid Game: The Challenge' contestants revealed what it was like filming the intense competition show.
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On The Capital Evening Show with Jimmy Hill, three of the constants from Squid Game: The Challenge, Lorenzo (161), Bee (018) and Tayo (107), gave us some behind-the-scenes insight into filming the massive competition show which is based off of the hit Netflix series Squid Game.
With 456 players fighting to win a $4 million prize, it's safe to say tensions were pretty high. In the OG show the contestants were literally killed off, and for many reasons this show can't do that. But one thing player 161, Lorenzo, told us is that emotions were so high, they genuinely thought they might die... brutal!
He told Jimmy: “When you’re in there it’s like an immersive experience, you don’t see anyone else… it feels 100% real, [like] you’re gonna die.”
- Read more: Is Squid Game: The Challenge Real?
- Read more: Who Is The Winner Of Squid Game: The Challenge?
With Netflix revealing that the players were filming for approximately 16 hours a day there have been some major questions as to how the players felt about this.
Living under 24/7 surveillance and filming for over two weeks, it's safe to say it was an experience like no other. Here's what the players told us.
Where did Squid Game: The Challenge players *really* sleep?
With rows and rows of bunkbeds set up just like in the fiction series, many viewers struggle to believe that the players actually slept there. Well, it might be hard to believe but they did.
The players told us “the snoring was the worst”, as they shared their bedroom with hundreds of other contestants from around the world.
They also said that their living area began to "smell after a while" as they had 8 sinks and 8 cubicles between 100-200 people. However they assured us that they were quite clean and certainly "weren't as bad as festival toilets".
Cast announced for Squid Game Season 2
Did Squid Game: The Challenge feel real to players?
Yes, the players got really stuck into the Squid Game storyline. "This isn’t the kind of show where someone yells “CUT!” at the end of the day," Netflix say on their pop culture website Tudum - and players like 161 (aka Lorenzo) backed this up by explaining just how real the show began feel to him.
Lorenzo said: “When you’re in there it’s like an immersive experience, you don’t see anyone else… it feels 100% real, [like] you’re gonna die... emotions are very high.”
Creators of Squid Game: The Challenge really wanted to create an "immersive experience" to get the best reaction from players. The show's production designer Mathieu Weekes said: “You want to make it the most immersive experience possible so they feel like they’re in Squid Game.”
He continued: “You are just creating an environment for them to behave and act, and be pushed and prodded and pulled.”
What was the hardest Squid Game: The Challenge game?
The Squid Game: The Challenge players had to compete in many games to try and win the multi-million pound prize. These games includes ones like we saw on the original TV show such as the 'Glass Bridge' and the 'Dalgona cookie' but there were some new games also sprinkled in.
Lorenzo, player 161, said that the scariest game was 'Red light, Green light'. This was the first game to kick off series with all 456 participants taking part in it.
To account for players pushing into one another or running towards the 14 ft doll, it was filmed in one of the largest indoor spaces in Europe which is Cardington Studios, located in Bedford. The 100,000 sq ft space was used in the ’20s and ’30s as an airship hanger for building zeppelins (a type of rigid airship).
Lorenzo said the game was the “most physically demanding” and due to the huge filming field the finish line “looked a thousand miles away”. He said: “Every pause you’d turn around and it had been 10cm.”
Tayo, player 107, who also spoke to us, was actually the first person to finish 'Red light, Green light'.
- Read more: All The Details On How Squid Game: The Challenge Was Filmed
- Read more: Here's What Is Going To Happen In Squid Game Season 2
For those keeping up with the show there are now just three finalist left battling it out for that huge cash prize. We will find out the winner on December 6th when Netflix release the grand finale.
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