‘Squid Game: The Challenge’ winner Mai Whelan is soon to receive her historic $4.56 million prize, 10 months after the last episode was filmed in February 2023.
Whelan and all the other contestants of the game show signed a contract stating the jackpot prize disbursement would be made 30 days after the finale had aired.
Since the finale aired on December 6, Whelan is expected to receive her earnings on January 5, 2024, although it is still not clear if the prize money will be granted as a lump sum or in partial deposits.
The 55-year-old immigration adjudicator, Mai Whelan, who was player number 287, triumphed over 455 competitors and claimed the title as the first winner of the reality game show.
In an interview, the Vietnam-born Virginia resident, humorously compared her impatience to a line from a film, saying, “I feel like Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire. Show me the money!”
Initially, sources with knowledge about the show’s production shared that Whelan was aware that the prize was to be disbursed after the airing of the Season One finale.
Since her victory, Whelan has planned to spend the jackpot on a retirement home, “We don’t know where yet, and we are happy with where we are. We live on the water. It’s very peaceful.”
She also wants to contribute to charitable institutions that are “sponsoring kids receiving education and helping the elderly with their basic needs and health care. And also the wildlife and the climate.I think those are very important to how we see the world so that way we can live in it and enjoy it for everybody, not just us at the present moment.”
Based on the hit South Korean TV series Squid Game, the participants went through grueling eliminations through less deadly games such as ‘Red Light, Green Light.’ Whelan was proclaimed the winner after several rounds of rock, paper, and scissors against competitor Phill Cain. In each round, the winner gets to select a key from a box, in hopes of finding the one that unlocks a safe.
Earlier this year, two participants threatened to file a lawsuit against the show’s production after alleged injuries while filming.
Whelan’s background as a Vietnamese refugee after escaping the chaos during the Fall of Saigon in 1975, to becoming a US Navy Veteran, then currently an immigration adjudicator reflects her resilience in the game in the face of adversity.
While she is eagerly awaiting her prize, her prize is subject to US Tax deductions with estimates showing her final earnings may be reduced to around USD 2.8 million.
Moreover, after the show’s resounding success, the streaming giant’s VP of Nonfiction Series expressed his excitement in announcing the filming of a second season.
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