Squid Game player explains why he kept nearly throwing up on camera

When Squid Game first landed on Netflix back in 2021, we were all left in shock from the moment we realised players would be shot for losing the games.

So, when it was announced there was going to be a real-life competition, obviously we were pretty shocked again. But while the competition on the new reality show is certainly fierce, the stakes aren't quite life and death this time around.

The first five episodes of Squid Game: The Challenge landed on Netflix yesterday with a whopping 456 people taking part.

To keep an element of shock, the producers have created some unexpected twists throughout the competition, concentrating on ‘moral choices and surprise’.

But people were unhappy with the way the Dalgona game went down, which left one of the players nearly throwing up on camera.

If you need a quick reminder, the Dalgona game is the one where players have to cut out a shape in a honeycomb-like cookie without snapping it - trickier than you might imagine.

Spencer Hawkins, AKA player 299, was forced to pick a shape for his entire line of people.

This was particularly stressful as he ended up either having to choose to take on the umbrella or get eliminated – and those who have watched the original show know this is the hardest shape to cut out from the cookie.

Netflix

Once he was in the room and trying to cut out the umbrella shape, he was practically gagging from the stress.

And Hawkins explained to Entertainment Weekly that the Dalgona day was a particularly ‘demanding one’.

“After the decision being made for which cookie shape we each get, it took a few hours for different groups to be able to compete, and so I had to be separated from my line for a time before I was even able to come back to them,” he explained.

“In that time I was trying to get into the mental headspace to be able to prepare for the game, drinking lots of water while trying to save up spit in my mouth, so I was getting physically exhausted while also feeling all the emotions of everything.

"And then finally, it's time to come into the room, and there's not much energy left.”

Netflix

The player revealed he started to feel ‘physically sick’ when the other people walked into the room and he could ‘see the pain on their faces’, realising they had the dreaded umbrella.

He was so stressed about the responsibility for their struggle and seeing them hurt it made him feel sick.

Thankfully though, Hawkins didn’t actually vomit but said: “I think I gagged a little in my mouth. The worst kind.”

But sadly, he was eliminated from the show as the player snapped his honeycomb and failed the challenge.

Disappointing, sure, but he can console himself with the fact his slip-up didn't lead to him being shot in the head like in the original series.

Topics: TV and Film, Netflix

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_