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The winner of Squid Game’s $4.56 million jackpot told The Times that ten months into grueling filming of the game show, she still hasn’t seen a cent of Netflix’s prize money.
Vietnamese immigrant Mai Whelan, 55, won over fans not only with her dramatic story of escaping the communist regime in her homeland after the fall of Saigon, but also with her cunning and ruthless streak that saw her overcome to another 455 players.
In the widely criticized finale, Whelan bested diving instructor Phill Cain, 27, after multiple rounds of rock, paper, scissors. In the final shot of the entire series, Mai walked up to an ATM and checked her balance to see $4.56 million waiting for her.
‘I feel like Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire. Show me the money!’ he told her. The times in an interview after the last episode aired, confirming that he is still waiting to see his money.
Whelan also told the newspaper that she splurged on a sleek hairdo, a Ralph Lauren dress and Jimmy Choo shoes for a recent Netflix event. “I still have buyer’s remorse about that, but I think it’s well deserved,” he said.
In another revelation, Whelan said contracts signed by contestants prohibit them from giving profits to other contestants. DailyMail.com has contacted Netflix for comment on this story.
In the boring finale, the contestants played several rounds of rock, paper, scissors and had the opportunity to open a safe with a key.
And then, there were three. In the final, the 456 competitors were reduced to just three.
Phillip Cain, Mai Whelan and Samuel Wells in costume for the finale
When he receives his money, Whelan says he will donate to causes he is passionate about, including the environment, and will also look for a retirement home far from where he lives in Fairfax, Virginia.
The immigration judge said she has two daughters, ages 36 and 34, as well as a 9-year-old granddaughter with her husband, Jay, a former IBM and Accenture executive who now runs a consulting business with his wife.
Speaking about her victory over Cain, who on the show talked about his life in Hawaii and his desire to no longer live paycheck to paycheck, Mai said it was more about experience than intelligence.
‘I don’t think I’m any smarter. I’m older than him and I’ve experienced things. It’s just knowledge… We play a fair game. He felt like I deserved to win because I beat him a lot playing rock, paper, scissors!’
During the show, Whelan broke down while talking about fleeing Vietnam in 1975, when an American soldier nearly shot him at age eight on an airfield.
After moving to the US and settling in Pennsylvania, Whelan joined the US Navy at age 19 and became pregnant at that time.
‘I was a virgin; I did not know anything. My family separated me, it was very hard. I didn’t know anything about motherhood. I didn’t have anyone,’ she said.
Squid Game: The Challenge viewers criticized the show’s ending as “boring” and “lucky” after they beat it in a game of rock, paper, scissors.
It was Mai who finally found the correct key to open the safe with the golden credit card.
The winner took home a prize of $4.56 million after opening a gold credit card safe.
In a separate interview, Whelan said his reason for joining the show was to make money and help causes he believes in.
“It’s good because I would like to express my cause, that’s the main reason I joined the game, to help a cause, so now that I win I have a platform to tell the world to help the underprivileged.”
He said he plans to increase his support of the Unbound charity with his profits.
“Educate children and ensure that the elderly are taken care of because when you are in a poor country, you don’t need health care and children don’t have an education,” Whelan said.
“I’ll keep something for myself, I’m older and I want to retire soon, so I want to make sure my husband and I have enough to retire and also to help charities.”
Whelan said the key to her success on the show was standing her ground “regardless of what anyone says about me.”
She said: ‘…Although I felt alone, but at the same time, I stand firm and that’s my character, I want to have integrity, I don’t want to compromise that.
“Their judgments don’t affect me, but they make me paranoid and sometimes I express it verbally, that can put me at a disadvantage, but at the same time, if it’s my time to be eliminated, that’s my time to be eliminated.” eliminated, but I have to play smart and just get by and respect people and not hold grudges but apologize if you do wrong.’
When asked how she was so good at reading her fellow competitors in the game, Ms Whelan put it down to taking her job in immigration “seriously”.
She also said she did not prepare for the game, other than re-watching the television show after she was accepted to play in the challenge, which she used to “learn and modify” her strategy.
The game show spin-off is based on the record-breaking Korean drama, and includes the same challenges without the deadly consequences of the original, with games like Red Light, Green Light, Honeycombs and Hopscotch.
New games were also added, including ‘Warship’, a version of the Battleship board game, and ‘Circle of Trust’, a variation of Heads Up Seven Up.
Viewers were furious that the winner was left to chance.
Originally 456 contestants participated, and in Wednesday’s final three competed for the prize.
In the end, only three players were left to fight for the grand prize: player 016 Sam, player 287 Mai, and player 451 Phil.
But fans were left disappointed after who won the show was left to chance, with the final result decided in a game of rock, paper, scissors.
Sam came in third after being eliminated after pressing a button during a game of chance at the final three dinner.
The winner was then decided through multiple rounds of rock, paper, scissors.
If they won a round, they would gain access to a key, which they could then use to open a safe for a chance to win the prize.
In the end, it was Mai who managed to choose the correct key, which opened a safe and revealed a golden credit card.
Viewers took to social media to express their disappointment after months of anticipation.
One said: ‘Honestly…HONESTLY I’ll say it…the ending was mediocre, I was giving a ‘boring’ movie but I’m glad Mai won, that’s justice for everyone who acts like a fool when she called out Ashley .
Another added: ‘STONE, PAPER, SCISSORS… ARE YOU KIDDING?! Among the incredible compositions, they chose to end the finale with Rock, Paper, Scissors. “They definitely wanted Mai to win.”
It comes after Netflix renewed the controversial show for a second season.
Some contestants criticized Netflix for how they were treated during filming at London’s Wharf Studios.
The attacks were primarily aimed at the Red Light, Green Light challenge, where players must sneak forward without getting caught.
But participants said the challenge actually took up to 11 hours to film and condemned the “freezing” conditions, while others claimed to have suffered “hypothermia” and “nerve damage”.