The winner of the hit show “Squid Game: The Challenge” will finally be awarded the $4.5 million prize money ten months after filming of the “Rock, Paper, Scissors” finale began.
Vietnamese immigrant Mai Whelan, 55, won over fans with her cunning and ruthless style as she defeated 455 other players.
But 10 months after her victory, the show champion has yet to see a cent in her bank account.
Sources told TMZ that Mai, along with all the other contestants, signed a contract that said the jackpot would be paid out 30 days after the finale aired.
If Netflix sticks to this schedule, Mai will become a millionaire on January 5, 2024 – 30 days after the final episode airs.
Vietnamese immigrant Mai Whelan, 55, won over fans with her cunning and ruthless style as she defeated 455 other players
Ten months after her victory, the show champion has not received a cent in her bank account
Sources told TMZ that Mai, along with all the other contestants, signed a contract that said the jackpot would be paid out 30 days after the finale aired
“Our contracts stipulated that the winner would receive the money 30 days after the final,” tweeted Sam Kohn, who was the player 188 on the show.
Mai, who told her dramatic story of escaping the communist regime in her home country after the fall of Saigon, plans to spend her jackpot responsibly – on a retirement home and donating to charity.
Netflix did not confirm when the money would be released, but claimed Mai would receive the money since the final episode had aired.
It is still unclear whether she will receive the money as a lump sum or in installments.
In the highly regarded final, Whelan triumphed over diving instructor Phill Cain, 27, after several rounds of rock, paper, scissors.
The final shot of the entire series shows Mai going to an ATM and checking her balance. There are 4.56 million dollars there.
“I feel like Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire.” “Show me the money!” she told the Times in a call from New York after the final episode aired, confirming that she was still waiting to receive the money see.
Whelan told the newspaper that she recently treated herself to a chic hairstyle, a Ralph Lauren dress and Jimmy Choo shoes for a Netflix event. “I still have some remorse about it, but I think it’s well-deserved,” she said.
In another revelation, Whelan said that the contracts signed by participants prohibit them from passing on winnings to other participants. has contacted Netflix for comment.
Phillip Cain, Mai Whelan and Samuel Wells in costume for the finale. If Netflix sticks to this schedule, May will become a millionaire on January 5, 2024
And then there were three. In the final, the 456 participants were reduced to just three
Viewers were furious that the winner was left to chance
In the boring finale, participants played several rounds of rock, paper, scissors and were given the chance to unlock a safe with a key
When she receives her money, Whelan says she will donate to causes close to her heart, including the environment, and will also look for a retirement home outside of her home in Fairfax, Virginia.
The immigration judge said she has two daughters, 36 and 34, with her husband, Jay, a former IBM and Accenture executive who now runs a consulting firm with his wife.
Speaking about her win over Cain, who spoke on the show 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 have experienced things. It's just knowledge… We played a fair game. He felt I deserved to win because I beat him many times at rock, paper and scissors!'
During the show, Whelan broke down while talking about his escape from Vietnam in 1975, when he was almost shot by an American soldier at an airfield at the age of eight.
After moving to the United States and settling in Pennsylvania, Whelan joined the U.S. Navy at age 19 and became pregnant at the time.
“I was a virgin; I didn't know anything. My family cut me off, it was very hard. I knew nothing about motherhood. “I had no one,” she said.
In a separate interview, Whelan said her reason for taking part in the show was to win money and support the causes she believes in.
“It’s good because I want to express my cause. That's the main reason I joined the game, to help a cause. Now that I win, I have a platform to tell the world to help the underprivileged.”
She said she plans to use her win to increase her support for the charity Unbound.
The winner won a $4.56 million prize after opening the safe for a gold credit card
It was Mai who finally found the right key to open the safe containing the golden credit card
“To educate children and make sure the elderly are taken care of, because when you're in a poor country you don't need health care and children don't have education,” Whelan said.
“I'll keep some of it for myself, I'm old and want to retire soon and so I want to make sure my husband and I have enough to retire and also help with charity work.”
Whelan said the key to her success on the show is sticking to her guns “no matter what they say about me.”
She said: “… Even though I felt alone, at the same time I stick to my principles and that is my character, I want to have integrity, I don't want to compromise on that.”
“Their judgment has no impact on me, but it makes me paranoid and sometimes I have expressed that verbally, that can put me at a disadvantage, but at the same time, when it is my time to be eliminated, it is my time to be eliminated. “eliminated, but I have to play smart and just get through it, respect people and not hold grudges but apologize when you do something wrong.”
When asked why she was so good at assessing her competitors, Ms Whelan put it down to the fact that she took her immigration job “seriously”.
She also said she didn't prepare for the game other than re-watching the TV show after being accepted into 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 features the same challenges without the deadly consequences of the original, with games like Red Light, Green Light, Honeycombs and Hopscotch.
New games have also been added, including Warship – a version of the board game Battleship – and Circle of Trust – a variant of Heads Up Seven Up.
In the end, only three players were fighting for the huge prize: player 016 Sam, player 287 Mai and player 451 Phil.
Squid Game: The Challenge viewers have branded the series finale “boring” and “lackluster” after it was won through a game of rock, paper, scissors
However, fans were left disappointed after the winner of the show was left to chance and the final result was decided by a game of rock, paper, scissors.
Sam came third after being eliminated after pressing a button during a gambling game at the final three's dinner.
The winner was then determined through several rounds of rock, paper and scissors.
If they won a round, they would gain access to a key to open a safe and have a chance to win the prize.
In the end, Mai managed to select the right key, which opened a safe and revealed a gold credit card.