This is why the winner of Squid Game: The Challenge hasn’t received the prize money yet

The last episode of Squid Game: The Challenge was only released on Netflix last week but in reality, filming for the show wrapped up almost an entire year ago in February 2023 meaning that the winner, Mai Whelan, has had to keep her new multi-millionaire status a secret for nearly 12 whole months.

The final episode saw Mai check her bank account balance at an ATM, mirroring the scene from the original Korean drama, where it showed a total of $4,260,000. Despite this, Mai is actually yet to receive a single penny of the prize money yet despite production of Squid Game: The Challenge finishing so long ago.

In an interview with The Times, Mai said: “I feel like Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire. Show me the money!”

Now, other contestants from the show have come forward revealing the exact reason the 55-year-old has had to wait so long to receive her earnings. Sam Kohn, who was player 188 on the show, tweeted that it was actually written into their Squid Game: The Challenge contracts that they would have to wait to receive the prize money.

“Our contracts stated that the winner would receive the money ~30 days after the finale,” Sam said. Going off this, Mai is set to become a millionaire on 5th January 2024, exactly 30 days after the final episode dropped on Netflix.

Whilst Netflix did not confirm whether the 30 day clause was legit, they did confirm that now the final episode has aired, Mai will receive the money, adding that this is typical of most reality competition programs.

January 5th can’t come around quick enough!

Squid Game: The Challenge is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

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