Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2 Crowns Winner: Perla Figuereo Claims Record $4.56 Million Prize

Netflix’s most ambitious reality competition has concluded with life-changing consequences. On November 18, 2025, Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2 crowned Perla Figuereo (Player 072) as its champion, awarding her an unprecedented $4.56 million prize—the second-largest payout in reality television history. The 25-year-old California model outlasted 455 competitors through weeks of psychological warfare, physical challenges, and gut-wrenching eliminations to achieve what began as an impossible dream.

After weeks of twists, strategy, betrayals, late-night temptations, surprise advantages, and some of the most intense games the series has ever introduced, Squid Game: The Challenge season 2 has officially crowned its winner: Perla Figuereo, player 072, who walks away with the life-changing $4.56 million prize. The finale delivered Netflix viewers the dramatic conclusion they’d been anticipating, combining emotional stakes with the franchise’s signature blend of childhood nostalgia and adult desperation.

The Final Five: Who Made It to the End

Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2 began with 456 hopeful contestants, each bearing numbered tracksuits and harboring dreams of financial freedom. By the finale’s opening moments, only five remained standing. These final competitors represented the strongest strategists, most resilient athletes, and luckiest survivors from a brutal elimination process that tested every dimension of human capability.

Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2 Final Five

The ‘Squid Game: The Challenge’ season 2 final 5 are Vanessa Clements (017), Perla Figuereo (072), Steven Jones (183), Dajah Graham (302) and Trinity Parriman (398), and they competed in intense, unpredictable challenges for a $4.56 million prize. Each finalist brought unique strengths—Perla’s strategic thinking, Dajah’s physical prowess, Steven’s analytical approach, Vanessa’s social game, and Trinity’s competitive fire honed through collegiate athletics.

Trinity’s Shocking Self-Sacrifice

The finale opened with an unexpected twist that exemplified the emotional complexity Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2 cultivated throughout its run. During a dinner party, there was a game to determine the final four, but Trinity (Player 398) was so moved by everyone else’s stories that he wanted them all to move forward instead of himself, forcing everyone to allow him to lose the game and he went home.

Trinity’s decision stunned both fellow contestants and viewers worldwide. The former college tennis player, who entered the competition to fund his nonprofit organization and relocate his mother to Kansas City, chose empathy over ambition at the moment when $4.56 million hung closest within reach. His sacrifice reduced the final five to four, fundamentally altering the finale’s competitive landscape while demonstrating that humanity could survive even Squid Game’s dehumanizing pressure.

“I need the $4.56 million,” Trinity had stated earlier in the competition, explaining his plans to support his nonprofit and establish financial security for his future family. Yet when confronted with his competitors’ equally compelling stories during the tense dinner game, something shifted. Trinity forced the elimination rules to work against himself, ensuring the others could advance. This selflessness stands as Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2’s most emotionally resonant moment—proof that even manufactured scarcity couldn’t completely extinguish generosity.

Red Light, Green Light: The Ultimate Test

The final game was Red Light, Green Light, and in previous seasons of both Squid Game and Squid Game: The Challenge, this game was always the first game of the challenge with 456 contestants competing to cross the finish line before a specific amount of time. The decision to use this iconic challenge as the finale’s climax carried symbolic weight. What began as hundreds of players frantically racing across a vast field now featured just four individuals, each step weighted with the pressure of millions watching and millions at stake.

The game’s mechanics remained familiar to anyone who’d watched the original Squid Game series. Players must advance toward a finish line during “green light” periods when music plays, then freeze completely during “red light” intervals. Movement during red light results in immediate elimination. The challenge tests physical control, strategic timing, and psychological resilience under extreme pressure—exactly the combination that defined Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2’s most successful competitors.

How the Final Challenge Unfolded

Vanessa Clements (Player 017) became the first casualty, eliminated early in the final Red Light, Green Light challenge. Steven Jones (Player 183) followed when he slipped and fell—a devastating end after surviving weeks of competition. This left Perla Figuereo and Dajah Graham to determine who would claim the $4.56 million prize.

Dajah, Season 2’s runner-up, revealed she was taken out of the competition near the end of Red Light, Green Light by a rather serious injury, stating “I was trying to take it slow, but keep up, because that’s my competition,” pointing to Perla, and explaining she heard a pop and discovered she’d torn her Achilles tendon. Dajah underwent surgery and remained in recovery, her World Cup dreams temporarily derailed by an injury sustained mere steps from life-changing wealth.

Perla’s Moment of Triumph

Perla (Player 72) was the final person standing in the competition and got to cross the finish line safely, with the gamemaker showing up to hand her the $4.56 million winnings. The moment Perla’s foot touched the finish line, weeks of accumulated tension released. She dropped to her knees, tears streaming, and uttered a simple prayer: “Thank you, God.”

As she reflected on the gravity of the moment, Perla narrated her inner thoughts in a voiceover and said, “I am the last woman standing. It’s just me and the finish line. I had faith, I had strength and I had the luck. I am about to win ‘Squid Game‘”. Her victory represented more than personal achievement—it symbolized vindication for the strategic choices, alliances formed, and sacrifices made throughout the brutal competition.

Upon winning the money and getting to tell her family that she won, Perla said “I always felt powerful, but now I’m like, ‘I’m powerful.’ I am never doubting myself any longer. If I say I’m gonna do something, I’m gonna do it no matter what“. This confidence emerged from more than just winning—it reflected the psychological journey of discovering she possessed capabilities she’d never been forced to access before Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2.

The Brother Who Made It Possible

Perla didn’t enter Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2 alone. Her brother Jeffrey Figuereo (Player 283) joined her, creating one of nearly 20 sibling or family pairs competing in the season. Their bond became both strategic advantage and emotional vulnerability as the competition progressed.

Player 72, Perla Figuereo, didn’t enter Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2 alone—but she emerged as the sole winner after her brother, Player 283 (Jeffrey Figuereo), made a dramatic sacrifice during a surprise game of Marbles. During Episode 6’s intense Marbles challenge, Jeffrey chose to lose intentionally, sacrificing his own advancement to ensure Perla continued competing. This moment defined both Perla’s emotional journey and her strategic path forward.

After winning the challenge and bagging the prize money of $4.56 million, Figuereo stated “No. 1 is splitting it with Jeffrey. I don’t need that much money, and my brother is the reason I passed Marbles”. Perla’s immediate commitment to sharing her winnings demonstrated the family loyalty that motivated her throughout the competition. Jeffrey’s sacrifice created an obligation she intended to honor, recognizing that his elimination enabled her victory as much as her own skill and determination.

How Perla Plans to Spend $4.56 Million

According to a report by Gold Derby, she spoke at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and stated there were a few steps to spending the money, including splitting it with Jeffrey, getting their mom and dad a house as an immigrant family whose dream was always to own property and not worry about rent, noting her mom raised them from very low income while still giving them food, home, life, education, and happiness.

Perla and Jeffrey Figuereo were born into the Mormon Church in the Dominican Republic before their family immigrated to the United States. The immigrant experience shaped their understanding of financial precarity and their appreciation for the opportunities America provided despite significant struggles. Their mother worked at Madison Square Garden, sometimes hiding her children in utility closets during shifts because babysitters weren’t financially feasible.

Perla’s Spending Priorities

As for the final thing she’s planning on splurging on, she admitted to definitely “getting a boob job!” while speaking at the live winner reveal. Her candid acknowledgment of personal desires alongside family obligations demonstrated refreshing authenticity. Perla refused to pretend the money would only serve altruistic purposes—she’d worked hard, sacrificed much, and earned the right to invest in herself alongside supporting loved ones.

Season 1 Winner Mai Whelan’s Legacy

Perla now joins Mai Whelan (Player 287) as Squid Game: The Challenge’s exclusive winners’ circle. The first season ended with Mai (Player 287) taking home the grand prize after besting Phill (Player 451) in the final Rock Papers Scissors challenge. Mai’s victory established the template for how winners could transform their prizes into meaningful life changes.

Mai Whelan used her $4.56 million to renovate her home, construct a small dock for her boat in her backyard, and support causes related to people, animals, and climate change. She also made one significant splurge—a beaded black velvet Ralph Lauren gown she wore throughout the show’s press tour. Mai’s balanced approach to prize money—combining practical improvements, charitable giving, and selective luxury purchases—demonstrated financial wisdom that many hoped subsequent winners would emulate.

What’s Next: Season 3 Already Confirmed

Netflix has already renewed Squid Game: The Challenge for season 3 and at the end of the season 2 finale, there was a brief teaser that confirmed it will come out sometime in 2026. The announcement came as no surprise given Season 2’s viewership success and cultural impact. Netflix recognized they’d created a reality competition format with international appeal and consistent engagement metrics that justified continued investment.

Season 3’s confirmation also included an intriguing development—a Second Chance Fan Vote allowing viewers to help select one eliminated player from previous seasons to return for another shot at the $4.56 million prize. This twist acknowledges fan investment in specific contestants while creating additional promotional opportunities during the months between seasons.

The rapid renewal reflects Netflix’s confidence in Squid Game: The Challenge’s long-term viability. Unlike many reality competitions that plateau after initial novelty fades, this franchise benefits from Squid Game’s global brand recognition and the endlessly renewable appeal of watching ordinary people compete for extraordinary money. As long as $4.56 million remains life-changing (and it will for the foreseeable future), contestants will apply and audiences will watch.

The Reality TV Landscape Shift

Perla Figuereo’s historic $4.56 million victory just redefined reality competition standards, with traditional networks now having to explain why their prizes seem tiny by comparison, as the entertainment landscape shifted dramatically on November 18, 2025. The implications extend beyond one winner’s celebrations—they reshape audience expectations for what reality television should offer.

Traditional network reality shows typically award prizes ranging from $500,000 to $1 million. Survivor’s $1 million prize, once considered substantial, now appears modest compared to Squid Game: The Challenge’s nearly five-times-larger payout. This disparity creates competitive pressure. Networks must either increase prize money to match Netflix’s standard or accept that their shows occupy a lower tier in viewers’ minds.

The prize size also attracts different contestant demographics. People facing genuine financial hardship view $4.56 million as genuinely life-changing, not just substantial. This desperation creates more authentic emotional stakes—contestants aren’t just playing for bragging rights or minor windfalls, they’re fighting for futures that wouldn’t otherwise be accessible. The resulting drama feels more genuine because the consequences are exponentially more significant.

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