Lobster fisher from western P.E.I. makes final 4 on Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge

Vanessa Clements never pictured herself becoming a reality TV competitor, let alone one featured on one of Netflix’s biggest shows.

But this year, the lobster fisher from western P.E.I. found herself on the second season of Squid Game: The Challenge.

Not only did she appear on the show, she made it all the way to the top four. Clements also competed on Big Brother Canada in 2020, though that season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Looking back on that journey, she said her past self would have never believed it.

“If you would have told me that a few years ago, I would have laughed,” she told CBC’s Island Morning.

Squid Game: The Challenge is based on Netflix's hit South Korean drama series. The reality competition brings 456 players together to live in a dorm-style setting and compete in childhood games for a prize of $4.56 million US.

“In addition to the amazing prize amount, the way my Big Brother season ended with COVID and it just kind of getting ripped away from me in that way, I think I just wanted to do something again and see it through to the end and see how I could do,” Clements said.

Clements was the only Canadian to make the finalists list this season, entering the top five before one contestant chose to go home, placing her in the final four.

The four then went on to compete in Red Light, Green Light — the game with the giant doll that calls “red light,” forcing players to stop abruptly, with any movement leading to elimination. Clements was the first to be eliminated.

“You're never just living in the moment and having fun. You're constantly wondering what's up next, for sure. You don't know what game is coming or what twist is going to happen,” she said.

“You want to create alliances, but you don't want to create too many because people will see that and think you're doing too much.”

She said forming alliances often came down to reading people during their time together in the dorm.

"A telltale sign for me is that they would never ask a question about me. It would always just be about them. Anytime I would talk with somebody, you could kind of get a sense if they were up to no good.”

Although she didn’t walk away with the grand prize, she said finalists do receive compensation for making it that far. Despite the pressure, she said the production was “a completely immersive experience.”