TV & Movies

Did the Squid Game contestants get paid?

Cameron Frew
The contestants in Squid Game: The ChallengeNetflix

The finale of Squid Game: The Challenge has just dropped, with one player becoming a multi-millionaire – but did the rest of the contestants get paid?

In the original Squid Game, the contestants leave their debt-ridden lives behind for a chance to climb out of the red and into the black. Only one person could win, but those who lost weren’t sent home – they were murdered by the contest’s guards, or they died as a result of the games.

The reality show is a bit different. Obviously, Netflix didn’t shoot any of the players in the head or have them killed, with certain games changing to avoid any major injuries; Tug of War was changed to Warship, and stunt doubles were used to give the illusion of them falling in Glass Bridge.

It was filmed over 16 days, which isn’t a minor sacrifice for those with jobs, children, and other commitments. So, did Squid Game: The Challenge pay all of its contestants?

Did Squid Game: The Challenge contestants get paid?

None of the contestants in Squid Game: The Challenge were paid, except for the winner.

The competition started with 456 people with dreams of paying off all of their debts and never worrying about money again. Sadly, the only person who took home any money was the winner – everyone else walked away with nothing.

In a TikTok, Radhika Srinivasan (382) responded to someone asking how much everyone was paid for participating in the series. “Zero. Zero GBP, zero USD. Zero rupees, zero won, zero pesos, zero euros, zero. Literally zero,” she explained.

“It was all or nothing. And we were really in there acting like that for nothing. Because the stakes were so high, it was $4.56 million. But what I will tell you is production covered all of the transport. That literally is like all the international flights that come into London, transport for me as well. I don’t live too far from London, but they organized a taxi, a train, and like literally anything you need for getting to the location and getting back home.”

Srinivasan jokingly added: “So yeah, we went in there with the clothes they gave us, [and] a bum bag full of toiletries, and we left with group trauma. We left with so many crazy, extreme, abstract memories. I think that’s the best way to put it. But it was such a wild experience, and I would not take it back for the world. And would I do it again for free? 100%.”

Squid Game: The Challenge is available to stream in its entirety now. You can find out the winner here, and check out our other coverage below:

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