Netflix has defended the freezing cold conditions on its upcoming Squid Game: The Challenge reality series after the streaming giant was forced to answer why a contestant was stretchered off.
During the ‘Red Light, Green Light’ game, a recreation of the first in the original South Korean series’s fictional challenges, at least one player was taken away using a stretcher, whilst others said they suffered from frostbite, according to The Sun.
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As temperatures dropped below freezing during the past week in Britain, severely impacting conditions on set, Netflix and producers Studio Lambert and The Garden said “while it was very cold on set – and participants were prepared for that – any claims of serious injury are untrue.
“We care deeply about the health and safety of our cast and crew, and invested in all the appropriate safety procedures,” added the statement.
Younghee, the giant robot doll from “Squid Game”, is exhibited at the Olympic Park on October 26, 2021, in Seoul, South Korea. Netflix has installed a replica of the giant robot doll that appears in the first episode of their worldwide hit “Squid Game” at the Olympic Park in Seoul. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
With 456 contestants selected from around the world and a $4.56m (£3.7m) cash prize, the format recreates the ‘real life’ versions of the games played in the original series (albeit without murderous endings or, it would seem, mild-to-serious discomfort). Other games from the series included Tug of War, Marbles, and Hopscotch.
Studio Lambert, who produces Gogglebox, and The Garden, who are backed by ITV Studios, are both making Squid Game: The Challenge, which is one of Netflix’s most eye-catching non-scripted titles in production right now. The aim is to take advantage of the enormous success of South Korea’s Squid Game. A second series of the thriller is currently in the works.
