Publications
- Netflix's Squid Game: The Challenge has come under fire for its 'inhuman' treatment of contestants.
- In the show, based on the Korean hit series, contestants will compete against each other in games based on the series for a cash prize.
- According to a report published last month, contestants were left in an aircraft hangar as freezing temperatures plummeted.
- "Any suggestion that the competition is rigged or claims of serious harm to players are simply untrue," the production company said in a statement.
Netflix's reality game show, Squid Game: The Challenge, based on the Korean hit series, has been branded "absolutely inhuman" by contestants who are speaking out in a new report about the horrific treatment they were allegedly subjected to.
In the 10-episode series, 456 players from across the globe will compete against each other in games based on the series for a cash prize of $4.56 million (R80 million).
Produced by Studio Lambert and The Garden and filmed in the United Kingdom, the British press last month revealed the real-life treatment of contestants who were allegedly left in a massive aircraft hangar as freezing temperatures plummeted, with some contestants collapsing while they were forced to stand still for hours.
In a statement, Studio Lambert and The Garden said, "We care deeply about the health of our cast and crew and the quality of this show. Any suggestion that the competition is rigged or claims of serious harm to players are simply untrue. We've taken all the appropriate safety precautions, including aftercare for contestants – and an independent adjudicator is overseeing each game to ensure it's fair to everyone."
In a new deep-dive, Variety reports that contestants are pushing back on Netflix underplaying the horrible on-set treatment, saying what really happened is "definitely not as minimal as is being conveyed by Netflix".
The industry trade spoke to contestants who were part of Squid Game: The Challenge, who revealed that while they were told one game would take two hours to film at Cardington Studios, a large former aeroplane hangar north of London, it turned into a 7-hour ordeal which saw contestants collapse from the freezing cold.
A contestant told the publication that "The conditions were absolutely inhumane".
About playing one of the Squid Game games where contestants had to stand in below-freezing temperatures holding a pose, a contestant says one "just buckled, and you could hear her head actually hit the ground. But then someone came on the [microphone] and said to hold our positions because the game is not paused. After that, people were dropping like flies".
Another contestant said: "You can't tell people they have to stand in below-freezing temperatures in just a tracksuit and two pairs of socks".
