Squid Game: The Challenge Winner Mai Whelan Doesn’t Believe in Alliances

More than with any other reality-competition series, your odds of winning Squid Game: The Challenge are breathtakingly low. Four hundred and fifty-six contestants competed for $4.56 million in Netflix’s game-show adaptation of the hit Korean drama Squid Game, giving each player a .22 percent chance of winning. Not only is the number of contestants utterly absurd, but as anyone familiar with the original series will tell you, the challenges are so cruel they make Big Brother and The Circle look like child’s play.

That makes Mai Whelan’s winning run all the more remarkable considering she was convinced she’d been eliminated during casting. The 55-year-old immigration adjudicator from Virginia stuck through the lengthy process but never felt confident she’d get chosen. “I waited and waited. I didn’t hear anything,� Mai told Vulture. “I told my husband, ‘I guess I didn’t make it.’� But she joined the 456-person cast as Player 287, playing a slow, calculated game in the shadows and only emerging as a threat to win it all once the bigger personalities had been dusted. As the numbers dwindled and they approached the final challenges, her castmates finally realized what a worthy competitor she was, but it was too late — she seemed all but destined to win the grand prize. She shares with Vulture how she approached her social game (don’t call it an “alliance�), how she used crying as a strategy, and how the real villain of the season was hygiene.

How do you feel now that the whole season has aired?
I feel great. Burden lifted. I couldn’t tell anyone, and now I can freely talk about anything.

Was it hard to keep that in all these months?
My excuse was that I got eliminated. “Oh, how did you do?� “I got eliminated. You have to wait for the show.�

What was the casting process like?
It was stressful. I love Squid Game. My husband said, “You should apply for this. This is all of you.� I made a video right away and sent it. A couple months later I got an interview. I thought I didn’t do well because the person who interviewed me said, “You need to be bubblier.� Then a few months later they said, “You haven’t been selected yet, but we are doing a background check.� Then a few months later, they said that they would have the result sometime in December or January. January 6 came and I got the phone call. A few days later I flew out to London.

Did you have a strategy planned out beforehand? Were you able to prepare?
No, I did not prepare. I didn’t have any strategy other than to review the TV show over and over again. I was scared of the squid game, actually, because I didn’t grasp that game at all. It’s also physical. I said, There’s no way in hell I will come out of that game winning.

You’re fairly absent from the show until about halfway through the season, the moment you volunteer for the orange-squeezing task — was part of your strategy to lay low, or is that more of an editing thing?
I laid low until volunteering. The numbers were dwindling down and that’s where I wanted to make my move, so people could have an idea of who I am. That’s the moment that made me more visible with other players.

When you’re sitting in the dorm with 200 players, it’s a lot to go around to get to know a person. You only get a glimpse of that person’s character. I just wanted to give an idea of who I am. I think it’s important in that game to have visibility.

You played a very controlled, calculated game. You were social and friendly, but we didn’t see you share too much about yourself with other players or make a lot of alliances. 
I don’t believe in alliances. I believe in connections with people. An alliance sometimes sets off the wrong energy to other people. You never want to do that. I was more stealthy, getting to know a person instead of a group. It’s a friendly group we can connect with — not like the Gganbu group. They’re always together. Our group goes out, we socialize, and then once in a while we come together and just talk, joke around and stuff like that.

One of the few people you shared your personal history with was Jada when you’re playing marbles. That seemed like one of the most difficult challenges because you don’t have anywhere to hide. Can you talk about that experience?
Jada was like my daughter. I’m one of the oldest people there — my experience has taken me all over the world. And here’s Jada; she’s only 20. Her brother has lupus and kidney issues. I felt for her. Maybe it’s the mother instinct inside of me. I was like, “I should just give you this game.� And then she said, “Well, you have to play. You have to give it your all.� I pinky-swore to her that I would play with 100 percent of my ability. I thought that I lost the marble game. Gee, I only have one marble left in my bag. So I just throw it against the wall, and I keep getting her marbles. Next thing I know, I said, “It’s your turn,� and she told me there’s no more marbles. I was distraught, and I just started bawling. I felt so guilty.

You mentioned a couple times that you couldn’t trust other players. But it seemed that toward the later half of the game, you weren’t trusted by other players, either. 
Everything is about alliances. The woman’s group at the end, it’s like, Oh, we have to form a women’s group to beat out the men. I totally disagree with that. It’s not about men and women in this game. It’s one-on-one. You have opponents. I go against the grain, and people don’t like that.

As the game progressed and became more stressful, it seemed difficult to maintain that level of control and set your emotions aside. What was your head space at that time? 
Crying helps me a lot. I don’t cry because I want to succumb to weakness. It’s to relieve the stress I’m feeling and to clear my head so I can stay focused. That’s my strong point. If they think I cry because of my weakness, that I can’t move on, that’s good for me, right? They think I’m weak, but in reality, I’m reassessing my moves to go forward.

What was the hardest part for you?
The hardest part was sitting through the Circle of Trust. The second part is the personal hygiene in the dormitory. We don’t have shower shoes. Of course they’re going to put towels on the floor to take a shower, but clean up after yourself. Be mindful of people who come right behind you. That’s all I’m asking. They don’t even do that. These are grown adults in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. It’s like, come on.

Once people realized you were able to suss out Circle of Trust, no one wanted to put it on your desk after that.
That’s a good thing, because it was hard for me to put a box on Roland’s desk. For a split second, I had to look around the table. Who’s the best candidate to put that box on? And I found Roland because he trusts me so much and because I was his mother figure — I was talking to him about his personal life and struggles and braiding his hair. I felt bad to do that to him, but I said, This is a game; I’m sure he’s going to understand.

You had your back up against the wall when it was down to 12 players, but you turned out to be an absolute killer in those remaining games. It was satisfying watching the remaining players slowly realize what a formidable player you are. Did it feel satisfying to you at the moment? 
I couldn’t believe I’d made that far. And it was harder to watch it because you get to see, during the interviews, what people thought of me behind the scenes. It’s like, Oh, wow, okay. To be able to advance to the next level felt good, but I didn’t feel safe enough.

In their confessionals, they’re saying, “Oh, wow, Mai’s good; she’s really skilled.� And Ashley even says, “I see you, Mai.� I think that had to do with your minor feud, but it was a level of respect, too. Are you and Ashley cool now?
Oh yeah, we exchanged numbers. She called me Mother Mai. She’s very smart and level-headed and grounded, and it’s just a moment, right? A moment of fear. Anybody can feel that way. I can’t judge.