Skip to main content

New! You can personalise your feed. Try it now

Advertisement

Advertisement

Squid Game: The Challenge Has Begun Production In The UK — And The Contestants’ First Hurdle Is The Cold Weather

Good luck keeping still while playing 'Red Light, Green Light' in -3°C conditions.

As the saying goes, the s*** just got real.

Netflix’s highly-anticipated reality show Squid Game: The Challenge, just started production in the UK on Monday (Jan 23), and the contestants already had trouble overcoming the first obstacle — mother nature.

Per The Sun, a few players needed medical attention while competing in the first game, ‘Red Light, Green Light’, amid -3°C temperature.

Dubbed “the biggest reality competition series ever”, Squid Game: The Challenge, based on the streaming service’s hit 2021 Korean drama, sees 456 players competing for the top prize of US$4.56 million (S$6 mill) in assorted children's games. (In the Lee Jung-Jae-starring show, the bounty is 45.6 billion or S$48.5 mil).

If you know your Squid Game, ‘Red Light, Green Light’ is the segment where players have to make it across a finish line while remaining completely still when Young-Hee the giant sinister doll swivelled its (her?) head. Those caught moving will be gunned down.

In the reality show version, players didn’t have to worry about being mowed down by a hail of bullets — just the freezing cold. Yes, good luck staying motionless.

Players booted from the show told The Sun: “You could hear someone yell ‘medic’ and the crew would rush on. We ended up standing there for 30 minutes between takes. Some were crawling by the end. At least one was carried out on a stretcher.”

Another said, “It was like a warzone. People left in tears.”

The 10-episode Squid Game: The Challenge is secretly filmed at Cardington Studios, a former RAF base near Bedford, which is about a two-hour drive from London. (Chris Nolan shot The Dark Knight Trilogy there.)

Even though filming was done in an enclosed venue, the massive space was said to be inhospitably cold.

One participant shared with The Sun: “When we got there, it was freezing. Everyone was shaking. I don’t think there were any heaters. They said that when the doll starts singing we can move forward. When she stops singing, if we moved, we were out.”

The same person added, “They gave us two thermals, two socks, a shirt, plimsolls and green tracksuits. We each had blood vests under clothes which burst automatically if they can you moving to make it look like you’ve been shot.”

When Variety reached out to Netflix about The Sun story, the streamer said a statement, “We care deeply about the health and safety of our cast and crew, and invested in all the appropriate safety procedures. While it was very cold on set — and participants were prepared for that — any claims of serious injury are untrue.”

Variety reported that only 228 contestants cleared the first challenge.

The Squid Game: The Challenge has attracted participants from all over the world, so we won’t be surprised if a Singaporean or two made it on. (Like how local actress Elaine Yuki Wong turned up in another Netflix reality series Physical 101… but that’s another story for another time.)

Meanwhile, Season 2 of Squid Game is in the works. Plot details are kept under wraps but creator Hwang Dong-Hyuk said Lee Jung-Jae’s character will return, as will Lee Byung-Hun as the Front Man. There will also be new games, and, er, Young-Hee has a boyfriend.

Photo: Netflix 

Related topics

Hollywood Squid Game Netflix Squid Game: The Challenge Lee Jung Jae

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.