Ten months after the recordings, 38-year-old Dylan can hardly believe what happened to him. He talks about it very enthusiastically to RTL News. “It was really bizarre from the beginning to the end. It was all so surreal. Everything was really recreated 1-on-1 from the series and you are completely part of it. It is almost impossible to explain.”
Dylan signed up more than a year and a half ago. “A friend of mine drew my attention to the call from the makers. He thought it was really something for me. I first had a local selection round, then national, then internationally again. It was quite a process that lasted for months. Ultimately, I heard It wasn’t until December that I was allowed to participate. That made me very happy.”
And shooting started straight away in January this year. Dylan flew to London for this, although he told his colleagues that he was going on holiday to Bali. “I have never really taken long holidays, so I gave the excuse that I wanted to do that now. We also had to hand in our phones for the recordings and I said that I wanted to go on holiday without using my phone.”
The Rotterdammer ended up in ‘a completely different world’. “It’s not just a few sets that they have built. They have really recreated that environment, you are just in that world. And you have to rely on each other, all 456 participants. Furthermore, you are completely isolated from the outside world.”
Players hypothermic
The first recordings immediately caused a stir, with some participants suffering from hypothermia. “That was during the recording of the game Annemaria Koekoek.“
Annemaria Koekoek is a children’s game that has been played worldwide for years. When the game starts, all players stand on one side of the playing field behind the starting line, except for one person. He stands on the other side of the field, facing the players. When he turns around and calls Annemaria Koekoek, the participants are allowed to move. After that they are not allowed to move anymore.
“In the series, such a fragment may last five minutes, but the recordings took hours in the cold. And you had to remain as still as possible. Of course, we were not used to doing that at all. So that was intense, although Fortunately, there were no serious complaints.”
For Dylan, it was nevertheless an experience he will never forget. “I live for this, for these kinds of special experiences that you can talk about later. Not only the game itself was so bizarre and cool, but also the people I met there. They came from all over the world and taught me that I I can be happy with my life. The stories of some people who fled war or were rejected by their parents have stayed with me.”
But the game itself has also left its mark, says Dylan. “I’ve sometimes had nightmares about it, but I can’t say more about it yet.”
What he can say is that he would participate again in a heartbeat. “100 percent! It was really worth it. I can’t imagine that you wouldn’t want to participate in this, especially if you’re a fan of the show like me. I thought watching the series was really cool, I thought the makers did a really good job. Then participating in this yourself is especially special.”
And in addition, just like in the series, there is a prize associated with the game. “That’s right, $4.5 million for the winner. Of course that’s nice, but that wasn’t the reason I wanted to participate. Because statistically speaking, the chance of you winning is of course very small.”
2023-11-23 18:48:21
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