The Netflix series Squid Game was one of many runaway hits for the streaming service. The show was so popular the company greenlit a reality series based on the show and its games, but with much less serious stakes. Squid Games: The Challenge was underway in production, and Variety has reported that conditions became so tough for contestants that medical assistance was needed on the first day.
While filming a game of the show’s “Red Light Green Light” challenge, fewer than five people sought medical help when they seemingly suffered a shock to their systems when filming in the U.K. amid Britain’s ongoing cold snap. One contestant is believed to be injured after accidentally hitting a wall, and the others were being treated for mild ailments. The contestants were among 456 challengers in the Red Light Green Light game; however, they, unfortunately, filmed this during a rare cold snap in the United Kingdom.
During the show’s first day of filming, at Bedford’s Cardington Studios, north of London, temperatures reached a low of zero degrees Celsius. The game was not being filmed outside but in an airplane hangar. Although being filmed in an enclosed space, there wasn’t seemingly sufficient insulation to shield contestants from the cold. Many of them were not used to Britain’s weather, nor were they experienced in television production. They were allegedly given hand warmers and thermal underwear to combat the temperatures, but this seemingly made things more difficult.
Britain’s tabloid, The Sun, had spoken to eliminated contestants who gave details on the shoot. One source claims, “Some people couldn’t move their feet because it was so cold. You could hear someone yell ‘medic’, and the crew would rush on. We ended up standing there for 30 minutes between takes.”
A spokesperson for Netflix gave a statement, “We care deeply about the health and safety of our cast and crew, and invested in all the appropriate safety procedures. While it was very cold on set — and participants were prepared for that — any claims of serious injury are untrue.”
Given the vast number of participants, production would have been tricky to rearrange; however, the first challenge was also integral to the advancing of half the number of contestants, so this was a key day in production.