How Mai Whelan took home $4.56 million on Squid Game: The Challenge Season 1

Mai Whelan, a 55-year-old U.S. Navy veteran, immigrant, and grandmother, was the first winner of the first season of Squid Game: The Challenge, which awarded her the record-breaking $4.56 million prize.

Mai survived 455 other competitors to win in one of the most challenging television reality shows in reality history that combined dangerous survival, tactical strategies, and emotional factors in equal balance.

Squid Game: The Challenge's first winner rewrites expectations

The reality competition series Squid Game: The Challenge challenged 456 players with a number of games based on the original Korean series, and one objective in mind: to win the 4.56 million dollar prize.

Mai Whelan came into the game with an unusual background of reality show winners: a Vietnamese refugee, a single mother, a 20-year veteran of the U.S Navy, and, most recently, an adjudicator of immigration at the Department of Homeland Security. 

The finale was reduced to three players who were Mai (Player 287), Phill Cain (Player 451), and Sam Lantz (Player 016). 

The climax scene was a dinner of the finalists, then a game of rock-paper-scissors to decide the winner, with a game of picking a key.

Mai described the moment, saying:

“What I’m most proud of is that I didn’t compromise my integrity to win the money, I came into it to challenge myself as a person, and for me to finish that is a feat and accomplishment that I’m very proud of, and that at my age, I can do anything if I put my mind to it.”

The series itself delivered massive scale: 456 contestants, filmed across multiple elimination games, and released in late 2023 on Netflix.

Mai’s victory was more than financial. She told Netflix Tudum,

“People will think it couldn’t possibly be me. I am so glad that I’m a woman, I’m a minority, and able to overcome everything at my age. So I’m putting it out there, ‘Don’t be afraid. Be who you are and just plow through.’”

When asked why she bought a dress and Jimmy Choo shoes right after her win, she said:

“It’s a beautiful dress. I couldn’t help it. But that’s about as frivolous as I want to go.”

The path, though, was not without controversy or difficulty.

Some contestants claimed unfair conditions during filming of Squid Game: The Challenge, and Mai herself shared that she essentially lied to her family for months under the non-disclosure agreement, even telling them she’d been eliminated early.

With the money in hand, Mai revealed plans for how she will use the winnings.

According to various reports, she intends to “support various charitable causes” and has donated to “Wildlife conservation and initiatives addressing climate concerns.” In her words, 

“My heart is with people, animals, and climate change. If we continue what we’re doing, there won’t be a future for all the little kids growing up right now.”

She also expressed surprise at how far her win resonated: as someone who began life as a refugee, Mai said that her background made the victory “that much more meaningful to many of those watching.”

In terms of production, Squid Game: The Challenge was noted for its scale: the largest cast in reality competition history at 456 contestants, and the second-largest single cash prize in reality TV at $4.56 million.

Mai Whelan’s win thus becomes a milestone not just for the show but for what it represented: that someone with her life experience, age, and background could succeed under the show’s extreme conditions.

The combination of strategic play, mental resilience, endurance, and integrity propelled her to a win of $4.56 million.

Stay tuned for more updates.