Doctors had to be called in for Netflix’s reality TV show The Squid Game 

Has Netflix gotten out of hand with The Squid Game reality show? Or did it check out the premise of the series?  

Since, before the Korean series returns with a second season, we will get a reality version, in which real contestants will face off in a series of games like those in the fiction; only, in this case, they will not be lethal, of course. 

Experience filming during a cold snap

However, according to Variety, the British tabloid The Sun spoke to several people who were eliminated from the reality show and who spoke on their experience filming during a cold snap. Whereas a result of that, doctors had to go to the filming set of Squid Game: The Challenge, while the first game, Red Light, Green Light, was being filmed, as temperatures reached -3C in the UK. 

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One of those affected commented “even though hypothermia set in, people were willing to stay as long as possible because there was a lot of money at stake. Too many were determined not to move, so they stood there too long.” another said. “There were people arriving thinking they were going to be millionaires, but they left in tears.” 

Squid Game: The Challenge is being filmed at two sets in the UK. And some contestants are not from the UK and not used to the freezing weather, were given hand warmers and thermal underwear to stay warm during the first day of filming.  

So much so that the reality filming was subjected to an independent safety review because of the above. To which the UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) asked the producers to adequately plan for potential risks and hazards, but no further action was taken and there have been several participants with major injuries. 

A Netflix spokesperson stated for Variety: “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 any claims of serious injury are untrue.” 

Are the game is rigged?

In addition, other former contestants claim that the game is rigged. According to them, some contestants with influence were pre-selected to move on to the next rounds of the games, regardless of the results obtained in the previous tests. Several contestants claim to have been eliminated by the show’s producers’ minutes after crossing the test finish line and, in theory, securing their passage to the next phase. Others instead discovered that Netflix had already booked their flights back from London before the games themselves kicked off, proving that their elimination from the trials was planned from the start. “It wasn’t really a contest,” recounted one of these anonymous participants. “It was a TV show, and we were extras.” 

The reality series is based on the award-winning 2021 Korean drama Squid Game, which Netflix announced a second season of the series in June. The news was accompanied by the announcement of a reality show, Squid Game: The Challenge, inspired by the fiction and is part of Netflix’s plan to expand the Squid Game universe.  

The contest would give the highest financial prize in TV history, some $4.56 million, to one of the 456 players. But while the series only brought joy to the streaming platform, the reality show has become a nightmare for the company.