Squid Game: The Challenge was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.
I’m a full-time caregiver for my six-year-old daughter, who has special needs, and I signed up for the Netflix show to try to win the $4.56 million jackpot to help my family — but I had no idea how difficult it would be.
We couldn’t tell the time and couldn’t see the outside, so day and night didn’t matter. We ate, slept and played at the guards’ request. I think we had about eight hours of rest between days.
I decided to apply after seeing a casting ad on Twitter. I was asked to film a one-minute video, and within a day and a half of submitting it, I had producers on the phone.
Irish TikTok star Mikie Bowe was assigned player 254 in Squid Game: The Challenge
The father of five, 36, said he assumed the match would be child’s play, but it wasn’t a game
There followed months and months of background checks, including medical checks, and production bosses searching my social media accounts.
And one day I was running errands with my wife and I received a call from an unknown number.
I replied – which I normally never do – and I was told I had made it onto the show. It was incredible. I thought, ‘Wow, I’m going to be on Netflix and I’m going to be part of Squid Game! I love Squid Game!’
I didn’t know what I had signed up for. I assumed it would just be child’s play, but it wasn’t a game. It was so serious and intense.
My plan initially was to fool everyone by making them laugh and getting them on side with my banter – before taking them down one by one.
But that disappeared when I really started connecting with the other players.
On the first day we left the hotel early in the morning and reached this huge space to get ready.
There was a huge marquee and we were given the famous green tracksuits, extra socks and thermals, and there were heaters to keep us warm. There was food for us, coffee, and tables and chairs, and so many people looking after us.
He said Red Light, Green Light was the most difficult challenge he took part in
Mikie shut down talk of “fixing” and claimed he crossed the line in Red Light, Green Light with player 302, LeAnn, who some participants claimed got a free pass
Then it was time to play the infamous Red Light, Green Light – and filming really took forever.
We had to pose for so long so that the judges could carefully check who had moved and as a result had to be eliminated.
But the game wasn’t nine hours long as some people claim, and it certainly wasn’t fixed.
During the race I was so focused on myself and how hard I had to get through that all I could see was the finish line. I was completely disconnected from everything around me.
It was nail biting. I had three seconds to cross the line before I ran out of time, but I made it. It was the hardest thing I, and probably everyone else, had to do during the entire series.
A few players have since said the challenge was rigged. Oh, my God, I wish it was fake!
I heard people talking about some players’ microphones – and while that was true, it made no difference to how people performed. There were people with fully working microphones going out right before me.
It is nonsense to say that content creators are favored to win because they are more popular. I watched them all get eliminated.
There were also reports that producers passed on player 302 – LeAnn Plutnicki – to keep her and her son’s storyline going. But that is not true. I crossed the finish line with her. If I say they let her win, that’s a slap in the face.
The full-time caregiver said he bonded with his competitors in between challenges, which thwarted his game plan
The players were forced to eat, sleep and play at the request of the guards
Mikie claimed that the players were shocked after being confronted with warships when they thought they were walking into Tug of War, which was featured in the drama series.
I hate that people call it faked. It grinds my gears. Did everyone have a fair chance? 110 percent. The playing field was level.
The second challenge, Dalgona, where we had to cut shapes from a piece of sugar candy without breaking it, was the first time I felt completely immersed. I completed the challenge with about a minute to spare. But when I caught the guard’s attention, he shook his head to indicate that I wasn’t done yet.
Even though I was confident I had cut out my triangle, I had missed that there was still a piece touching the side of the honeycomb. I had to calm my shaking hands to gently move it away. I was a wreck at the time, but I was determined to beat the odds.
Warships was another intense challenge as we all thought we were encountering Tug of War, part of the drama series, so we were shocked to be confronted with a rogue game.
As soon as the second ship was hit, I knew I was safe and I could continue.
When we first reached the dorms, it was a party and we all went crazy. Everyone had the best time. I only wish show bosses had included some of that in the final edit.
I got a bit of a sore throat during filming, which was probably from the dry air, and they had the medics take really good care of me. Just for a sore throat!
Between matches we were able to really build a bond with our fellow players. At one point I got a nosebleed because my friends and I were laughing so hard.
What we achieved in the Games brought us closer together – although I did notice some participants jumping from alliance to alliance and spreading gossip.
Food was fuel. For some of us it was unbearable, but I ate it all. We had oats for breakfast, which I didn’t mind, but the Americans couldn’t handle it.
Other meals consisted of bland rice and a weird egg.
Players enjoyed a sweet treat before cruelly discovering their next challenge
Although we had plenty of food, there were no treats, except once at the picnic in episode five, which unbeknownst to us was actually the Marbles game.
Myself and Kyle, my best friend, were immediately suspicious. We didn’t want to work together, because why would we want to? It was clear they weren’t really treating us.
If you look at the episode where we have a picnic, me and Kyle are at the very end of getting our blankets because we didn’t want to work together. But no one else wanted to work with us because they had already found their people.
We sit down and we are serious. Kyle is sitting there digging through the brownies, chips and juice, and then we lift the false bottom and see the marbles and we start to panic.
I’m like, ‘Anyone want to trade places with me? We will give you everything we have here. Just exchange!’
It was hard to see Kyle leave.
After filming wrapped, we were looked after from head to toe, which was really nice. The production crew would make sure we were doing well.
Squid Game: The Challenge premiered on Netflix on November 22 and the series finale will air on December 6.
They asked, “Are you happy with how you were in there?” and, “Are you excited for the show?”
They would say, “If there’s any help we can give you, if you’re feeling down, if you’re feeling this, if you’re feeling that, we’re here for you.”
I still get calls from social services, calls from psychologists and general ‘how are you’ calls to contact me.
Squid Game: The Challenge was not a picnic. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but we were treated fairly and the matches were fair.
People have claimed it’s faked, but I think they’re just salty that they didn’t win.
I would do it again in a heartbeat.