Netflix has just dropped the first five episodes of Squid Game: The Challenge, a reality game show based on its most-watched series of all time, Squid Game.
The dark and wildly addictive drama series made a huge impact when it first landed on the streaming platform in September 2021 and became an instant global hit.
Set in South Korea, it tells the story of a secret contest where 456 players, who are in financial hardship, risk their lives to play a series of deadly children's games for the chance to win a prize worth €32 million. Talk of a game show based on the hit series have been circling ever since.
Donegal influencer and social media star Eric Roberts, best known for his hugely popular comedy videos on TikTok, was one of the chosen few to take part and told RTÉ.ie that he has been "inundated" with interest since news broke he had made the cut.
The 33-year-old said, "Inundated is an understatement! But I'm enjoying it. I was sort of expecting it, having worked in, I suppose, 'the industry' now for the last year.
"I was hopeful that taking part in the show was going to help me in a new trajectory and maybe give me a leg up in the [TV] industry, so I've just been enjoying the process since the show's release."
The series was filmed in January in the UK, with 456 contestants from all over the world battling to be the sole winner of a $4.56m (€4.2m) prize.
Another Irish contestant, Kildare man Mikie Bowe, who now lives in Belfast, is also part of the line-up.
The show release is being staggered - a further four episodes will come next week (29 November) and the finale lands on 6 December.
Sitting in the middle of a whirlwind of attention, Roberts hasn’t even gotten the chance to watch the first batch of episodes. "I watched a few this morning… as many as I could, but I've just been kind of on the phone since. And so I'll try to have a sit down maybe tomorrow and finish the rest."
He’s seen himself several times so far though: "I’ve popped up here and there. You never know how much you’re going to feature in it because it was kind of a Big Brother-style setup, so we don't know how much or how little we’d be in it.
"I do know myself obviously, how far I’ve gotten," he says, before adding: "I can reveal that the first five episodes are out now and I do make it to next week [the next batch of episodes] - so you can keep an eye out for me there!"
The first episode echoes that of the original series, with the infamous Red Light, Green Light game. Contestants have five minutes to run across a huge yard, but must freeze like statues when the music stops.
A giant robot doll monitors their movement, and if they move even a centimetre when supposed to be still, they are shot dead on the spot.
Naturally, no massacre occurs in the reality TV show version of the show. Instead, a pouch of ink the contestants wear on their chests explodes as they are eliminated. Most participants gamely play along, pretending to be shot and dropping dramatically to the ground.
While it sounds slightly unhinged if you haven’t seen the series, it’s clear that the challenge version is every bit as addictive as the original.
Roberts says, "Red Light, Green Light was the toughest thing I've ever had to do in my life - I think everyone that partook in the game would agree."
"It's very fleeting in the show but we were stood there for 40 minutes every time we had to freeze," he revealed.
"The game lasted about eight hours. It was minus four degrees. It was in a huge warehouse. We were all seizing up; people were fainting; there were medics on hand.
"So it was it was a horrible, horrible experience. It was really, really grueling and a real test, both mentally and physically."
Luckily, he made it through – and confidently at that. "I managed to cross the line second out of 456 people so I was absolutely delighted about that.
"On the day I was just glad to finish it because… obviously 456 contestants and half the people went home on day one. So it was just a brilliant feeling crossing that line."
With so much at stake – an absolutely life-changing cash prize - and half the initial line-up falling at the first hurdle, Roberts says that of course there were angry reactions from people who didn’t make it through that first round.
He says, "Understandably, people were upset. People had traveled from America and Australia and they were there for an hour were sent home.
"So a lot of people weren't happy. It was intense. If you moved, you were out - and that was it.
"But it was just amazing to get through that and then when we were brought to the dorm, it really hit home that we were here to play. You know what I mean? The game was on."
Next up in episode two is the so-called "cookie game", where contestants must carve out a cookie shape from a slab of biscuit, using just a needle and under intense time pressure.
Luck plays a huge role in this game as some contestants are given an easy shape to carve out (a circle or triangle), whereas some draw the short straw an get an umbrella-shaped cookie – the shape that Roberts got.
"[I was] one of the only ones to pass the umbrella," he said.
"I had kind of made peace with the fact that I was probably going home when it was revealed what shape I had. It was a long day of thinking, there's no chance I'm going to go through.
"I think in the end, only three of us actually completed the umbrella. So I was one of the lucky ones."
Roberts was a huge fan of the original series and says that The Challenge is "a mirror of the show."
"It was totally immersive. There was no production crew [speaking to us]." The series was filmed in a fortnight.
He continues, "We were thrown into this, the doors were closed. We didn't know it was night or day. We were starved. We were mentally fatigued, so it was a real life experience of Squid Game."
Were there moments he wanted to throw in the towel? "Absolutely. I mean, it was a constant mental battle. I was quite lonely in there at times because it was predominantly American people and people weren't really getting my sense of humour."
He continued, "You were kind of mentally fatigued because you didn't want to be the loudest in the room, but you have to make friends or you might have been put out.
"So it was it was 24/7 having mental conversations with yourself, as well as the physical demands of the game. So it was really, really tough and it definitely took a mental toll on my physical and mental health."
Why did he apply? "I was contacted by a member of the casting crew who actually followed me online and he said, listen, I'm working on the show - I think you should you should apply, you’re a good personality.
"It was around six months of interviews then with production and casting calls and Zooms. I think 100,000 people applied and it was cut down then to the 456."
Each contestant dons the famous teal-coloured tracksuit on which their contestant number is emblazoned – Roberts is number 215.
So all that remains to ask is – is Eric Roberts now a multi-millionaire?
"You’ll have to wait and see," he laughs.
Squid Game: The Challenge is available to stream now on Netflix and you can follow Eric Roberts on TikTok – ericroberts44.
