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Million Dollar Secret ended on April 9, 2025, with Cara Kies being announced as the winner. The Netflix competition series gave one player a hidden advantage — a million dollars — which had to be protected while surviving eliminations and building trust. Cara managed to keep her secret and win the game.
After the finale, in an interview with Tudum on April 9, Cara shared how important her husband and family were during her journey. She said the first call she made after the game was to her husband, and it was emotional.
“Then, being able to tell him [I won], it was a dream come true. He’s always been so supportive of me, and he believed in me. Same with my family. They all knew that I could do this. They had no doubts,” she shared.
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Cara returned to her job at In-N-Out after filming, with her coworkers unaware she had even been away. The hardest part after the win, she said, was keeping it a secret from everyone in her daily life — something she had to continue doing even after the show was released.
Million Dollar Secret star Cara says she trusted her "intuition" throughout the game
Cara credited her win to staying true to her instincts and not changing who she was in the debut season of Million Dollar Secret.
“I stayed true to myself and trusted my intuition the whole time,” she said.
Although she grew up watching reality competition shows like The Challenge, Big Brother, and Survivor, she was careful not to reveal her strategic side too early.
“You can’t say you’re a gamer, because that’s the first person that’s going home in these situations,” she explained.
Cara shared that she formed personal connections with almost everyone in the house. She balanced this by carefully managing what she shared about her personal life. Cara said that she naturally wanted to talk about her husband "all day long,” but held back to avoid giving away any clues.
Cara's said that her approach focused more on reading people than dominating physical competitions in Million Dollar Secret. She shared that she wanted to "mentally hone" in on people.
From lying to Sam about having sisters to swapping boxes in the final moments, she relied on her own sense of judgment. She admitted that she had a feeling Corey knew she had the money, but decided to trust her "intuition."
Life after the win and keeping the secret
After the show, Cara went back to work at In-N-Out. She said none of her coworkers even realised she had been gone, and it was strange to keep such a big secret while returning to everyday life. When people asked her if she had won, she would respond by saying that if she had, she wouldn’t be able to admit it.
“I went back to flipping burgers. No one even knew I was gone,” she said.
During the game, she made it a habit to wake up early, pray, and mentally prepare for the day. She explained that once contestants stepped out of their rooms, everything turned into gameplay. Cara would try to eat breakfast before the others were up, as the pressure often made her too nervous to eat around them.
On the final day in Million Dollar Secret, she believed she was going to win. She wore her cross and told herself that this was it — she wasn’t leaving without the money.
“That morning, when I woke up… I knew I was getting the money,” she recalled.
Million Dollar Secret season 1 episodes are currently streaming on Netflix.
