Mai Whelan has finally received her long-awaited $4.56 million payout after winning Squid Game: The Challenge.
The Netflix competition series had us all gripped to our screens in the last few months of 2023, as the nerve-wracking contest offered the biggest prize in reality TV history.
The game show took inspiration from the award-winning Korean TV show (except nobody was actually killed) with players going through brutal trials to seize the mind-blowing $4.56 million reward.
After competing against 456 people, the 55-year-old contestant - who is an immigration adjudicator - was crowned as the lucky winner in the final episode which aired on December 6.
Whelan clinched victory on Squid Game: The Challenge after a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors with her fellow competitor Phill Cain in the series finale
"I don't know whether to cry or to cheer. I don't know what to do," she told her opponent shortly after winning the major prize.
The Virginia Native opened up about her accomplishment in a confessional interview, saying: "Today just validates that anything is possible. Even when [you] feel down and afraid, you have to pick yourself up, be a strong person, and focus," as cited by PEOPLE.
"Whatever you fear is, fight it with everything you got, and you can accomplish anything. And I've proven that tonight. I am the winner," Whelan added.
In the aftermath of the series, Whelan revealed to the Times that she didn't receive a cent of the million-dollar fund, quipping: "I feel like Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire, Show me the money!"
At the time, a source close to production reported that the winner of the series was aware of the payment plan and is set to receive the prize fund now that the season 1 finale has aired.
Well, Whelan can rest easy now as payday has finally arrived after a grueling 11 months, according to a report from PEOPLE.
The plan for Whelan now - after spending the cash on some Ralph Lauren and Jimmy Choo items - is to find "a retirement home somewhere," adding: "We don’t know where yet, and we are happy with where we are. We live on the water. It’s very peaceful."
The winner also wants to do some good with her eyewatering sum, telling Entertainment Tonight: "I have charitable causes I wanna contribute more to," including "sponsoring kids receiving education and helping the elderly with their basic needs and health care. And also the wildlife and the climate".
"I think those are very important to how we see the world so that way we can live in it and enjoy it for everybody, not just us at the present moment," she explained.
Since her victory on the show, Whelan has been active on Instagram, sharing videos of her love for animals in need and taking photos with her supporters.
Season 1 of Squid Game: The Challenge can be streamed on Netflix now.
