Fans of hit game show Gladiators have been left stunned after spotting a former legend from the programme on a new Squid Game spin-off show.
Squid Game: The Challenge is based off the hit Netflix show based in South Korea – Squid Game. During the show, a total of 456 contestants play games in order to win over $4.56million (£3.725million), eliminating other plans as the games go on.
While the reality game show version of the show will not see people being killed as in the original programme, participants are doing all they can to bag themselves the money. But while fans of the show were indulging in the episodes, some were left doing a double-take when they spotted a familiar face.
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After more than 20 years away from TV, it was revealed that Michael Van Wijk was one of the 456 contestants vying to win the prize money. Van Wijk is better known to fans by his legendary personality on Gladiators – Wolf.
(Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Whilst watching the first episode of the show, many fans of the gruelling TV show were left stunned as they raced to social media to confirm whether Wolf was indeed one of the contestants. One user watching the series wrote: “As if, Wolf from Gladiators is in Squid Game!”
A second viewer joined in on the surprise, commenting: “Not Wolf from Gladiators participating in the Squid Game!” Even Netflix bosses leaned into the speculation, asking viewers to try and spot the iconic “90s villain”, offering up another $4.56m; though that prize would be imaginary.
(Image: NETFLIX)
After the show was premiered on the streaming platform, Wolf himself shared a snap of his time on the show, reflecting on his journey. However in the pic, it seems he was not the happiest camper.
Taking to Instagram, Wolf captioned the snap: “I have not seen this yet, but I’m sure when people see it that [one of the games] looks like it took a few minutes to complete, when in reality we had to stand still for a couple of hours in -3 degree temperatures.” Many Gladiator fans were yet to clock on that the legendary star had been taking part in the show and immediately inundated his account with support.
(Image: COURTESY OF NETFLIX)
One of Wolf’s fans took to the comments section to write: “I wasn’t going to watch it, but if you’re in it – now I will!” Whilst a second user joked: “*sighs*… Well now I HAVE to watch it…”
Michael became one of the major icons from the show, as he appeared in all eight seasons of the programme, first shown on ITV from 1992 to 1999. After Gladiators ended, Michael upped sitcks and moved to New Zealand, where he works as a businessman with a chain of gyms under his belt.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
