Mai Whelan, winner of Squid Game: The Challenge, finally receives her prize of $4.56 million (2024)

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How much did Mai actually win? ›

Squid Game: The Challenge Winner Mai Whelan Has Her $4.56 Million Prize — Finally (Exclusive) Esther Kang is a writer at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2023 and has previously worked for publications like TMZ and TooFab.

Mai Whelan can now celebrate her well-deserved victory as she has officially received the long-anticipated payout following her triumph in Netflix's Squid Game: The Challenge.

Mai Whelan, 56, won the first season of "Squid Game: The Challenge." She won $4.56 million but had to keep it a secret from her family for months. Her daughter didn't know the truth until she watched the series.

Mai Whelan - Number 287.

Whilst in the light novels both Sakuta and Mai have kissed on numerous occasions, in the anime and film they have yet to do so.

In the end. as he can't accept them, Tea battles on behalf of Yugi for some star chips that Mai won for him to get him into the castle. It's fun, and Mai surrenders despite having the cards she needs to defeat Tea.

The comic ends with Mai and Kei Lo breaking up, but it's unclear if Mai and Zuko ever got back together.

Afflicted by Puberty Syndrome, the unfortunate Mai is slowly becoming invisible to almost everyone in Fujisawa, all except for Sakuta.

Mai is a young actress who takes a hiatus after pressures from her acting carrier and abuse from her mother, who is acting as her manager, becomes too much. While on hiatus, she realizes people no longer recognize her.

Mai Whelan is officially a multimillionaire.

The immigration adjudicator won a whopping $4.56 million by defeating her fellow hopefuls, but it took a while for the money to land in her bank account. Whelan won the show almost a year ago in February 2023, with the finale not airing on Netflix until December 6.

What did Mai do with the money? ›

For now, she's using the money to renovate their home ( ideally including building a small dock for a boat), but when she's finished, she hopes to use the money to help further afield.

In U.S. dollars, the prize money in Squid Game equals around $38 million. In the end, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), known as Player 456, wins the games and takes home the total prize money.

Instead, Mai has been content laying low since the series ended, relaxing at home with her husband and their two dogs, and spending time with her 12-year-old granddaughter. “It was a relief to go back to normal life and not worry about getting eliminated.

Player 287, aka Mai, is 55 years old.

Mai Whelan is a 55-year-old immigration adjudicator and U.S. Navy veteran from Fairfax, Virginia, per Netflix. She opened up her life as a Vietnam refugee, and how it prepared her for this unique position, on "Squid Game: The Challenge."

Mai was invited to participate in the Duelist Kingdom tournament. On the boat to the tournament, she meets Yugi Muto and Joey Wheeler and challenges Rex Raptor to a Duel. She wins using her aroma tactics, and evicts Rex from his luxury room.

In her desperate struggles to be acknowledged, Mai has started wearing a bunny suit, hoping that will help people to notice her again. Relationship Status… single. Unfortunately, there is only one person who can see her: Sakuta Azusagawa.