WATCH: Irish TikToker competing in Netflix's latest Squid Game series for $4.56 million prize

A well-known Irish TikToker has landed a role in the new Netflix series Squid Game: The Challenge which is set to drop on the streaming platform next week.

The release of this series follows the highly successful Squid Game, which is Netflix’s most-watched series of all time. The contestants participate in a series of games to secure a huge cash prize. 

Donegal native Eric Roberts is one of 456 people competing to win $4.56 million in the South Korean game show. According to Goss.ie, he filmed the new Netflix reality TV show over a year ago but was unable to tell anyone about it.

“This is such an incredible opportunity for Eric to branch out into an international market,” Goss.ie revealed online.

“He took a huge leap when he quit his job as a full-time special needs assistant earlier this year, so this has proved he made the right decision to focus on his career as an entertainer.

“This is just the beginning of Eric’s TV career, and who knows what doors this could open for him.”

Eric is a social media influencer from Downings. He previously worked as a Special Needs Assistant (SNA) at Mulroy College, Milford for eight years. He left his job to pursue content creation full-time after he began experiencing viral videos on TikTok during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Now, Roberts has one of the highest social media followings in Ireland and is continuing to experience this success. Eric describes his creation style as “a mix of family-friendly and dry comedic satire”. 

He is regarded as ‘Ireland’s Number 1 Male Influencer.’ As of November 2023, Roberts has gained a large following on various social media platforms. TikTok is his main platform having accumulated almost 600,000 followers and 30 million likes followed by Instagram which has approximately 252,000 followers

Squid Game: The Challenge is a ten-episode series which was filmed in the UK. In the reality series, 456 players will compete for a $4.56 million prize. Contestants will compete in a series of games inspired by the original show – alongside some new elements – players strategies, alliances, and character will be put to the test while competitors are eliminated around them. 

Squid Game: The Challenge will be released on Wednesday, November 22 at 8 am and will be available to stream on Netflix. The new series features the highest cash prize in reality TV history and also the largest casting. 

The difference is, that the original Squid Game was a dystopian fictional drama series and Squid Game: The Challenge is a reality TV competition. In the original series, contestants participated in a variety of games in order to receive a cash prize, but the consequences for failing to complete the game means you may not make it out alive. 

In the new series, the stakes are as high in terms of the prize, but this series is not a life or death situation like the previous highly successful Squid Game which aired in 2021. The worst consequence that you may face in The Challenge, is being eliminated and sent home.