Perla Figuereo entered Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2 as Player 072, and walked out with a whopping $4.56 million, the second-largest cash prize in reality television history.
The 26-year-old Dominican-American model, who has worked with brands including Rare Beauty, Fabletics, and Jersey Nation, outlasted 455 contestants to claim the title in Netflix’s wildly popular global competition series.
Figuereo didn’t enter the arena alone. She and her twin brother, Jeffrey, quietly joined the game as one of several sibling duos, protecting their bond the way other contestants protected alliances. Their connection stayed hidden early on — until the series’ infamous Marbles challenge forced Jeffrey to make the most consequential sacrifice of the season, giving up his place so his sister could continue.
That moment, Perla later said, became her engine. She played the rest of the game with the sharp focus of someone determined to honor her brother’s belief in her. “If I say I’m gonna do something, I’m gonna do it no matter what,” she said after crossing the final finish line.
The pair’s story resonated far beyond the show. Raised in the Mormon Church in the Dominican Republic before moving to the Bronx, the twins navigated immigrant life, public school, and eventually film studies together. Their victory — and their unity — gave a series defined by psychological warfare an unexpected emotional center.
Perla now plans to share the winnings with Jeffrey and help her parents buy a home. She also hopes to clear debts, invest in family security, and make her mother’s dream trip to India a reality. “First, I have to pay off my credit cards so they can stop calling me,” she joked in a post-victory interview.
A Finale of Pressure — and Precision
Season 2’s finale brought together five finalists: Vanessa Clements, Steven Jones, Dajah Graham, Trinity Parriman, and Perla. A tense bluffing match eliminated Trinity, setting the stage for the final showdown — the iconic “Red Light, Green Light.”
Vanessa fell instantly. Steven surged ahead but stumbled, sealing his fate. Dajah pushed through an ankle injury, but the pain forced her to stop. Perla, under punishing pressure and complete silence, held her breath through each freeze and ultimately sprinted to victory alone.
The season ended not just with a winner, but with one of the franchise’s most human stories: a family, a sacrifice, and a message about determination that viewers around the world instantly embraced.
Netflix has already renewed the show for Season 3.
