- Utah moms Lizzie McGee and Britt Christensen competed on Netflix's "Squid Game: The Challenge."
- McGee aimed to fulfill a bucket-list item.
- Neither won the $4.56 million prize, but found the experience unforgettable.
SALT LAKE CITY — Lizzie McGee and Britt Christensen say the obstacles they overcame to get as far as they did on Netflix's "Squid Game: The Challenge" were worth the shot at the show's $4.56 million prize.
"I decided to put together a bucket list of 40 things to do in my 40th year," said McGee, a mother of three who lives in St. George. "I just haven't done it because I've been a mom."
Her motivation to enter the contest stemmed from her desire to cross off an item on her bucket list and participate in a reality TV show.
I had a one in 456 chance of winning almost $5 million; that is the best odds you'll ever get in your life.
–Britt Christensen
After watching "Squid Game: The Challenge" Season 1, she lightheartedly filled out an application and sent it in without telling anyone, including her husband. Several months passed and she got a callback from the show and, with a little patience during the vetting process, she found herself overseas, where filming for the show took place.
The show is an extension of one of Netflix's most popular series, "Squid Game," a fictional show that has contestants compete in a variety of elimination games and die if they lose. According to McGee, "Squid Game" is not family-friendly, but the sister show she participated in is. It is similar to the fictional TV show, with the exception that the contestants do not die.
Known on the show as Player 193, McGee described how the show "killed her off" with an ink pack detonated to look like a gunshot wound to the chest.
The show begins with 456 players, but the very first round eliminates more than half of them. McGee did not get eliminated and credited her faith as the reason for her luck.
"I think the Lord wants me to do this and put me in this place to be able to have a voice, to help people and "Squid Game" felt like where it was supposed to be," she said.
Despite making it to the Top 44, McGee was eliminated during a marbles challenge with her best friend, Player 378. The duo created a cornhole game in the sand to determine the winner. He won two games and McGee won one and was eliminated from the contest. Her elimination was not shown in the aired episode, which led to confusion among viewers.
"I just wanted to have a good time. And if I had won, great. And if not, I was really happy because at that point, I went for the adventure, I went to have fun," she said.
When McGee met Christensen, or Player 109, the two were surprised to discover they lived an hour apart in Utah.
Christensen, of Kanab, said her idea to apply to the show came at the end of a binge-watch marathon of Season 1 with her husband. The possibility of winning the prize money was a compelling reason to apply, despite her slim chance of being selected.
"I had a one in 456 chance of winning almost $5 million; that is the best odds you'll ever get in your life," she said.
When Christensen arrived for filming, her personal items were stripped away, caffeine was banned and the only certainty was uncertainty.
"I did not sleep the entire three days in the hotel while we were quarantining, and then when I got on the show, it was another four or five days before I even had any sleep," Christensen recalled. "Your brain can't even focus on all the cameras."
But, she was determined to "do whatever it takes to win this for my husband."
The couple had endured a traumatic birth, resulting in medical debt and ongoing complications 14 years ago. The couple had worked very hard.
"This man has done everything he could ever do for me and for our daughter," she said, highlighting the significance of the prize money that would provide the family with much-needed relief.
Though Christensen did not end up winning the prize, she was comforted by her husband when she returned home.
"When I got home, (he) was like, 'I'm so proud of you. I'm proud of the way you went out,'" she said. "But I'm still devastated that I didn't win it for him."
Whether it was a bucket-list item or an adventure of a lifetime, both Utah moms said the experience of being on the show was unforgettable. Christensen jokes that maybe her next endeavor — becoming a social media influencer — will help her husband retire.
