Netflix: Variety and the Sun say that hundreds of players on the streaming giant’s spinoff show “Squid Game: The Challenge” had to compete in temperatures below freezing on the first day of filming on Monday. Cast and crew are working at Bedford’s Cardington Studios, which are in a hangar on a former Royal Air Force base north of London.
The Sun said that while filming the series’ famous game of “Red Light, Green Light,” players started to feel sick during takes, and others had to crawl to the end in -3 degree Celsius (26 degree Fahrenheit) weather during a brutal cold snap in the UK.
One player told the Sun, “Even if hypothermia set in, people were willing to stay as long as possible because a lot of money was at stake.” “Too many people didn’t want to move, so they stood there for too long.” “There were people who thought they were going to be millionaires, but they left in tears.” It was like a war zone. Doctors and nurses were carrying people out, but we couldn’t do anything. If you talk, you’ll be kicked out. Because it was so cold, some people couldn’t move their feet.”
But on Wednesday, Netflix and its production partners Studio Lambert and the Garden played down what the contestants said were scary conditions.
“We care a lot about the health and safety of our cast and crew, so we made sure we had all the right safety measures in place. Even though it was very cold on set, and everyone knew that, any claims of serious injuries are false,” they told The Times in a joint statement.
The Sun talked to another contestant who said that each player got two thermals, two pairs of socks, a shirt, shoes, and a green tracksuit. They wore “blood vests” under their clothes that “burst automatically if they catch you moving [during the game] to make it look like you’ve been shot.” People from London were bused to the studio, where they stayed in bunk beds.
The Sun said that no one was “stretched off,” but The Times confirmed Wednesday that the players were given thermals and hand warmers and that no one was “stretched off.”
Netflix said in June that they were looking for English speakers from all over the world for “the biggest reality competition series ever,” which is based on a captivating Korean series by director Hwang Dong-hyuk. In a series of games based on the show, 456 people are competing for a $4.56-million cash prize. This is the biggest cast and lump-sum cash prize in the history of reality TV.
Netflix said at the time that instead of a sudden death, the worst thing that could happen to a player would be “going home empty-handed.”
