Virginia-native Shelby Hoefling competed on the British competition series “Squid Game: The Challenge.” Now, she’s rooting for fellow Virginian Mai Whelan.
In 2021, Netflix streamed the fictional South Korean thriller series “Squid Game” where 456 players risked their lives playing deadly versions of children’s games to win $45.6 billion.
The Emmy-winning series was so popular that it inspired the British reality competition series “Squid Game: The Challenge,” which airs its 10th and final episode on Netflix on Wednesday, Dec. 6.
Virginia native Shelby Hoefling was one of the 456 contestants competing to win $4.56 million, the largest single cash prize in game-show history. Unfortunately, she was eliminated in Episode 3, so now she’s rooting for her fellow Virginian, Mai Whelan, a 55-year-old immigration adjudicator from Vietnam who lives in Fairfax County.
“Tonight, we’ll all be watching the finale,” Hoefling told WTOP. “Everyone in Virginia, we’re rooting for you, Mai! We want you to take it home and do us proud. … I remember meeting her in ‘Red Light, Green Light,’ before everything started and I remember being excited to learn that she was from Northern Virginia, so that was really special. … She’s a really sweet woman and she’s really focused on winning. … I hope that she wins.”
Raised in Falls Church, Virginia, Hoefling was living in Alexandria when she was contacted by a Netflix casting agent asking her to audition.
