Yahoo News Squid Game: The Challenge's player 278 defends Glass Bridge challenge
Contains major spoilers for Squid Game: The Challenge
It's the challenge everyone is talking about, and now Squid Game: The Challenge player 278, aka Ashley, has defended her actions in the Glass Bridge challenge, saying she stands by her decision and would do it again.
In case you need a quick refresher, in episodes seven and eight of Netflix's Squid Game: The Challenge, the remaining players who are competing for $4.56 million entered their next challenge.
In the challenge there were 17 pairs of glass tiles creating a bridge from one side to the other, with one of each pair of tiles being made out of a fake glass that would see the contestants fall to their doom if they stepped on it. The aim is to make it to the other side without falling. Before heading into the challenge however, the contestants were assigned numbers by their fellow competitors to decide the order in which contestants would cross the bridge. The lower the number, the higher the likelihood you will have of stepping on the wrong tile.
Having got their numbers the group decided a strategy which would see each team member only have to stand on one tile before the next member of the group had a go, as they saw this as the fairest way to complete the challenge. However, when it came to Ashley, who was assigned to go fifth, she refused to go ahead and try out her next tile and so Trey, player 301, took one for the team and progressed the game forward, only to fall to his doom and be wiped out of the games.
Since the episode aired viewers have heavily critiqued Ashley's decision, however she says stands by it and in fact claimed she was talking to production when the group decided to act as a team, and she hadn't actually agreed to taking part of the plan.
"When we were picking numbers for Glass Bridge, I got No. 5, and behind the scenes, I was really upset about that. I went off and had to step out, seeking out production, and during this time, this was when everybody comes up with the plan to overtake the person," she told EW. "Mind you, this whole time I'm feel upset about my low number, I'm not agreeing to any plan with anybody. It's a game for $4 million, it's one prize, only one person takes home the prize."
She also added the group had been discussing the plan for hours and a number of other players also didn't agree to the tactics.
Ashley said she thought Trey went "rogue" with his decision and went onto explain that before playing the game they were told if you want someone to overtake you, you have to turn around and shout loudly, however, Ashley said Trey turned around and mentioned his mum, player 302.
"Trey took a jump, he turned around to the bridge where everyone was standing and he asked something about his mom, 'Would my mom have gotten a low number? and then took another jump. In my perspective, Trey went rogue. He took two jumps," she said.
She then explained if Trey had directly asked her to overtake she would have had the same reaction and not moved.
"I would have said the same exact thing. 'I'm going to stay my ass right here, and if someone else wants to volunteer to overtake me, you can.' Because I didn't have to. I could have stood right there and everybody could have continued on with their game. Trey didn't have to be eliminated. Trey didn't even have to take an extra jump," she said.
Ashley defended her decision to not take the jump, saying: "But I stand by it — I would do it again. I made it across the bridge and I used what I had to get what I want."
Ashley then addressed Mai's decision to nominate her for elimination during the dice task and saying she wasn't a team player.
"After Glass Bridge, Mai rolls the dice and she's upset, calling me not being a team player. People have memory loss because before Glass Bridge, Mai was staying she can't stand TJ, then he picks her first, and she's all, I love you, TJ, tears tears tears," she said. "But somebody has to be the villain, and it lands on me for not taking an extra jump."
As to where Ashley and Trey stand now, well it appears everything in Squid Game: The Challenge has been forgotten, with Ashley telling EW how much she loves Trey.
"I love Trey, I just had lunch with him, but I had to do what I had to do. There's no ill intentions with Trey or anything, I just did what kept me alive," she said.
But despite making it out of Glass Bridge and the dice task, Ashley did not come away from Squid Game: The Challenge victorious, and was eliminated during the Circle of Trust challenge.
Squid Game: The Challenge final episode drops on 6th December on Netflix
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