Squid Game: The Challenge is an ambitious and glossy production that manages to blend the elements of the thriller series Squid Game with a traditional reality show and a game show. Four hundred and fifty-six contestants start the series, and as the games commence they are eliminated, eventually leaving one winner who will walk away with an incredible, life-changing amount of money. The large “cast” does create an element of uncertainty as you never have any clear indication, in the early episodes, of who will be eliminated. The drama is further enhanced with cutaways that focus on certain players, letting us get to know them better, and one such player is Lorenzo, aka Player 161.
The show goes to great lengths to focus on the elements of Squid Game that made it a worldwide hit, so we get plenty of personal interactions between the players, learning about their real lives, and watching them strategize their way through the process. Of course, the other main focus is the games, and with a range of music and slow motion, we watch as the stressed contestants are slowly whittled away.
Where is Lorenzo (Player 161) now?
Over the course of the show, Lorenzo revealed a little about his life. He was originally an asset manager, but post-pandemic, he would re-evaluate his decisions and find his true calling was more based in the creative arts.
During the Battleship game, Lorenzo is frustrated by the positive affirmations made by TJ (Player 182) and is much more interested in winning the game, rather than listening to TJ wax eloquently about “trust, humility and attitude”. He later reveals he is “an atheist” but thanks God anyway when he survives the challenge.
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Little is known about Lorenzo after the show, and it has been difficult to find information on him after his departure from the game. However, he did speak to The Daily Mail about his time on the show. On their official TikTok page, they posted this:
@dailymailshowbiz How does Squid Game: The Challenge’s Lorenzo (AKA 161) STAY SANE during the competition?! He SPILLS ALL about his experience which is NOW STREAMING on Netflix! #fyp #netflix #squidgame #squidgamenetflix #squidgamethechallenge #lorenzosquidgame #squidgameirl #showbiz #popculture #realityshow
Lorenzo’s journey in Squid Game: The Challenge
In an early episode of Squid Game: The Challenge, Lorenzo, Player 161, explains to his fellow players that he believes that he will make it simply because he works out, but obviously, there is so much more to the challenges than physical dexterity.
The 26-year-old ex-asset manager would proclaim himself to be a “master manipulator” with ambitions and a self-belief that he would become a multi-millionaire after winning the competition. However, Player 302, charged with handing out slices of apple to the others, and considered to be the mother of the players in the game, would express her feelings about Lorenzo, calling him “impolite, possibly rude”.
Lorenzo would go on to say he did not have time for “people pleasers”. In an elimination vote, the players were forced to key in the number of the player they wished to eliminate, and with no sense of self-awareness, Lorenzo felt sure he would be safe. When players vote for someone to be eliminated, their picture is shown on a screen so everyone knows who they voted for, creating incredible drama and stress between the players. Player 302 of course voted for Lorenzo, and he retaliated by returning the favour and voting for LeAnn. When the final votes were counted three players were eliminated, and one of them was Lorenzo.
He left with the grace you would probably expect.
What was the game status after Lorenzo left?
Although some of his fellow teammates were upset by his departure, numbers were reduced to seventy players, and the prize fund reached 3.86 million dollars. Player 019 would state that the vote was one of the hardest decisions, leaving her feeling “icky”.
LeAnn, a former editor at The New York Times, would say she instigated the vote for Lorenzo as he was a “little rude”. A lesson for us all.
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