"They were about to meet the three-dimensional me" — Battle Camp's Trey Plutnicki on shifting from Squid Game to strategic competition

Battle Camp, Netflix’s new reality competition series, brought together well-known contestants from different Netflix reality shows. One of them was Trey Plutnicki, who earlier competed on Squid Game: The Challenge with his mother, LeAnn Wilcox Plutnicki.

In an exclusive interview with ScreenRant on April 29, 2025, Trey spoke about moving from an elimination-based show to a game that focused more on strategy, trust, and constant decision-making. Trey explained that Battle Camp gave him a chance to show more of who he really is.

“People knew me and loved me from the show, but at the end of the day, it was a one-dimensional character, and they were about to meet the three-dimensional person who wanted to really, really dig in and play,” he said.

During the season, Trey worked through several alliances and shifting plans. Even though he tried to build trust with others, he ended up being part of a major blindside. In the interview, he shared how he adjusted his approach, whom he trusted, and how he figured out that the votes were no longer in his favor.

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Trey talks about changing plans to fit the game in Battle Camp

Trey shared that Battle Camp was a very different kind of challenge compared to Squid Game: The Challenge. While Squid Game focused more on surviving each round, Battle Camp needed players to make quick choices and manage social connections all the time.

“My strategy in Battle Camp was really to adjust to the game, which was a much more aggressive, aggro, in-your-face kind of experience,” he said.

Trey also spoke about how being known from a previous show made things harder. He explained that Battle Camp gave him a chance to show more of his personality and thinking. He wanted people to see how he could play the game on his own. As the competition went on, Trey faced more challenges.

"I think I like to adjust my strategy to the game that's at hand, which was tough when you continue losing and the people that you want to eliminate keep winning,” he shared.

Even when things didn’t go as planned, he shared that he kept trying to adapt. Instead of playing it safe, Trey shared he tried staying active in the game, which may have made him more of a target, and added that he focused on doing what each situation needed, even though the risk was high.

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The vote that ended Trey’s time at Battle Camp

Trey’s exit from the show became one of the most talked-about moments in the season. He believed he had strong support from both QT and Lorenzo, especially after making promises to look out for each other.

“We promised each other to have each other’s back the entire time,” Trey said.

Trey explained that these connections were important to his game and helped him stay in the competition for as long as he did. But things changed during the vote. Trey shared that he started to realise something was wrong when Chase DeMoor got only one vote, even though QT had told him earlier that she would be voting for Chase.

“The moment I realized that that happened was when Chase only received one vote after QT telling me that she was absolutely voting for Chase,” he explained.

Looking back, Trey said he understood why others saw him as a strong player. He said he always tried to be honest about his game and didn’t hide his moves. Even though the blindside was tough, he saw it as part of playing a game where things change quickly and trust can shift at any time.

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Watch Battle Camp episodes currently streaming on Netflix.