"The thought of me becoming a meme": Spencer Hawking reveals why he panicked during Squid Game's Dalgona Challenge

Squid Game: The Challenge recently premiered on Netflix on November 22. The series is a spinoff of the original Squid Game and involves 456 contestants taking part for a grand prize of $4.56 million. Of course, another difference between the two shows is that eliminated contestants are not killed.

They are merely ejected from the show. Spencer Hawkins was featured on the spinoff as Player 299 and had a rather hilarious experience with the Dalgona challenge. Pressured into taking the ill-fated Umbrella shape that also led to a range of complications on the original show, Spencer claimed that all he was worried about during the ordeal was that he did nothing to become an internet “meme.”

Spencer Hawkins was embarrassed after the Dalgona Challenge led to elimination from Squid Game: The Challenge

Squid Game: The Challenge premiered on November 22, leading to a range of eliminations in the first episode. The next set of episodes will air on Netflix on November 29 and will feature a range of popular challenges seen on the original Netflix series.

Hawkins was eliminated during the Dalgona challenge involving contestants cutting out specific shapes from honeycomb cookies. The most challenging shape in the round is easily the Umbrella shape, which requires a lot of precision to be carved on the cookie.

As it turned out, Hawkins was stuck with the umbrella but later claimed he did not regret the decision. As far as his decision to take the Umbrella was concerned, Hawkins explained that he could see none of the other participants wanted the shape. He had decided beforehand that while he would do his best to win, he would not do anything that makes winning more difficult for others.

“I wanted a chance to compete and I wanted everyone else to have a chance to compete, and I wanted us to be able to help each other, and I wasn't going to do anything to hurt someone else. And so that meant taking the harder route for me.”

Spencer later explained that while he was not inclined to change his decision, he would not have stopped anyone else had they told him they wanted the Umbrella instead. However, no one did.

Hawkins explained that he was not nervous about what he did on the show and that it was an emotional moment when he got eliminated. This was also because he did not initially think he had done anything to stand out and was unsure if he would even make it to the screen.

However, it seems as if, rather than the elimination, Hawkins was focused on not doing anything that would make him a meme,

“I'm not sure what made it onscreen. I remember saying words when I was in that room with the four other people as we were choosing the shapes, and I think I said something embarrassing — I don't remember what, but just the thought of me becoming a meme is the thing that kept coming back to me. Maybe that's what'll happen."

Hence, while most other contestants would have thought solely about their performances and how to proceed to the next round, Hawkins was guilty of losing focus. He initially said something embarrassing and knew he had been given the most challenging shape to recreate.

Still, Player 299 successfully traced the Umbrella, and the cookie only broke towards the very end. Regardless, it all stood for nothing, and Hawkins was quickly eliminated. The next set of episodes of Squid Game: The Challenge will air on Netflix on November 29.