The 8 Show explained: Who were the players in real life?

The 8 Show takes financially struggling individual players from various walks of life and gives them the opportunity to win money so they can change their lives.

While similar, The 8 Show differs from Squid Game in that no one knows the names of the real players. But, as the K-drama goes on, details about their real lives are unearthed, such as their professions, what landed them in debt, and even some of their names.

From the outset, they are named by their floors: 1F, 2F, 3F, 4F, 5F, 6F, 7F, and 8F. There’s no denying that each player has certain characteristics that give away details; for example, 8F has a superiority complex and a taste for luxurious goods, while 1F is more desperate.

With The 8 Show asking viewers to invest in the characters, their stories play a key role. Warning: spoilers ahead!

Player 1F

Player 1F is a clown in a traveling circus with a bad leg. He joined The 8 Show to get money to help his sick daughter and provide for his wife.

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In the final episode, 1F’s story is revealed. He’s a clown for Elephant Circus and his daughter has a rare, unspecified disease. Without any money to pay for the hospital, they kick her out and send her home. 1F has no choice but to send his wife and daughter home.

Scenes show him trying to walk into oncoming traffic. It’s then revealed that 1F asked his circus friends for a favor as one of them holds a life insurance policy. 1F’s name is No Sang-guk. As he’s almost hit by a car, he stops as his phone chimes with a notification to join The 8 Show.

Sadly, 1F dies in the show after being burned alive. 3F finds his wife and daughter after The 8 Show. They were under the assumption that 1F was away on a business trip. 3F also learns that 7F gave the wife and daughter enough money to live their lives comfortably.

Player 2F

2F’s story isn’t well detailed, but the K-drama reveals she joined The 8 Show to help pay for someone’s surgery.

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Anyone can deduce that 2F has some history of fighting. It’s noticeable when she keeps in shape in her room and takes down 6F in a fight. The 8 Show reveals she must have been some type of delivery person or worked for a company as a menial employee.

The scenes show her and other coworkers explaining a situation. A man was forced to take on more shifts instead of the company hiring more help. He fell asleep on the job, got into an accident, and needs surgery. But he has none, so 2F tells her coworkers to go ahead with the operation, and she’d find a way to make the money.

Player 3F

Player 3F lost all of his money after a con game and spends his time evading loan sharks.

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We see 3F trying to escape loan sharks who want their money back. It’s also revealed that his real name is Bae Jin-su. According to him, he trusted someone to turn his money into profit and become wealthy. He even took out a loan from loan sharks and took out all of his money to give to the man.

But he was conned and the man ran off with it all. Now Jin-su works at a convenience store and odd jobs to try and pay off his debt.

Player 4F

The most the K-drama reveals about Player 4F is she once dreamed of being a K-Pop idol but worked a menial job for a department store.

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The K-drama reveals she works in the parking garage of a department store when a white Mercedes parks in a No Parking zone. While 1F tries to stop them, they ridicule her. 4F then realizes they used to go to school with her and she used to gloat about being a K-Pop idol one day.

Player 5F

Player 5F is the wife of a wealthy dermatologist and a nurse who found solace in the man who conned her to cope with her husband’s infidelity.

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When you first meet 5F in The 8 Show, she has an air of luxury. Not only is she wearing a nice cashmere coat, but carries a Birkin bag. It’s revealed in Episode 8 that she’s married to a wealthy dermatologist, but he cheated every chance he could. In return, 5F would frequent a club, where she met a charming man.

His kindness led her to give him all of her and her husband’s money, as well as her husband’s building and house. Because of what she did, her husband sued her and she was left with nothing.

Other small details, like knowing about seizures and how to make a man a eunuch in a sterile environment, prove she used to be a nurse.

Player 6F

Player 6F used to be a famous baseball player, but fell from grace and became a car salesman who is undermined by his boss.

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The 8 Show shows a snippet of 6F’s life. He’s sitting outside a small shop when a married couple approaches him. They ask for his autograph, with the husband saying how 6F used to be the king of stealing bases.

While his boss chastises him for having lost a sale while signing an autograph, he reveals that 6F was kicked off the team for gambling. 6F ends up beating his boss in a fit of anger.

Player 7F

Player 7F was either a producer or writer before joining The 8 Show, based on a meeting he had with his boss.

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In Episode 8, a well-dressed 7F is having a meeting with a colleague and likely his boss. The man tells 7F that people are willing to do whatever is necessary for moments of pleasure. But he notes that what 7F has given him isn’t entertaining, and he used to be a big shot.

7F gave the man a manuscript titled Downfall; it’s not confirmed if it’s a book or a concept for a series or movie, but it’s clearly pretty boring. We also learn that 7F’s last name is Yu.

In the epilogue, it’s revealed that 7F turned his experience with The 8 Show into a worthwhile story.

Player 8F

Player 8F is Song Se-ra, a washed-up artist who was ostracized by the community.

Netflix

When you first meet 8F, she’s giggly, whacky, and out of the ordinary. She also has no regard for human life or social order. It’s revealed she’s a performance artist who started getting dropped by all the major galleries. She went into debt to host her own shows.

In the K-drama finale, 8F’s name is revealed in an online news article. She had taken a bulldozer and destroyed a popular art gallery and placed a sign saying, “This is not art.” Due to the damages she caused, Song was arrested and had to use all of her prize money to fix the gallery.

The 8 Show is available to stream on Netflix, and you can catch up on the most anticipated K-dramas in 2024. As well as details about Squid Game Season 2 and new TV shows streaming.