The Aurora resident is better known as Player 229 in Netlifx's Squid Game: The Challenge, a reality-TV show based on the popular South Korean drama. Though her games weren't life-or-death like the original Squid Game show, Boothe played for the chance to win $4.56 million, competing against 455 other contestants.
After initially lying low in the crowd, Boothe was suddenly singled out as a major player in episode five, when a jack-in-the-box challenge gave her the power to eliminate three people. She made the game-changing decision to get rid of Player 130, who had just won an advantage for the next game, and fan-favorite Players 243 and 232, who led the "Gganbu Gang" alliance.
The eliminations sent shockwaves through the fanbase, making Boothe public enemy number one. Viewers sent an onslaught of vitriol to Boothe's social media accounts and negative reviews to her cleaning business and true crime podcast. Comments calling her a "terrible person" who "ruined the show" still pop up on her TikTok videos to this day.
When the second batch of episodes dropped one week later, Boothe was eliminated during episode six's marble challenge and fans largely shifted their hostility to the next villain: Boothe's ally, Ashley, aka Player 278.
With months now separating Boothe from her first-ever reality show experience, she's left with a mixed bag. She's gained a sizeable social media following, but is locked into a cycle of online abuse whenever new viewers stumble upon the show "that I'll probably never live down," she says. Boothe has no regrets about her gameplay, but she also doesn't think the show's portrayal of her story was entirely accurate.
"I wasn't playing for the viewers," she says, "I was playing to win."
Phalisia Boothe captured the nation's attention — and the internet's vitriol — during her time on Squid Game: The Challenge.
Netflix
Westword: Watching the show back, how do you feel about your portrayal? Were there any editing choices you thought were unfair?
Phalisia Boothe: Absolutely. But, you know, I get it. It's show business. They're going to do what gets the most viewers. I got an edit as this sexist, lesbian, man-hating person, and that's definitely not me. But that's how the viewers took it. ... I wish there was more context to my edit, I guess.
Like when I was talking about how I don't like to see male players act like this and how my wife is strong, they smashed those two thoughts together and made it seem like I just don't like men. I was talking about two different things: How I have a strong wife at home and she'll be proud of me, and how this male-dominant alliance has to go. ... I didn't like to see all these men saying they don't want as many women on their team, saying women are weak. I didn't appreciate that and I wanted to point it out.
"I was very naive to the world and how people are disgusting, nasty and rude. ... If you want to be on reality TV, you sometimes get a bad edit. Even if you get a good edit, people still send you death threats and attack you," Phalisia Boothe says.
Did you expect the uproar that eliminating those alliance players, Rick and Stephen, would cause?
I watch reality TV competition shows because I love it when people actually play the game. In Big Brother or Survivor or the Challenge, they make strategic moves based on what's best for them. This is not a game for everyone to get along. I didn't know Stephen and Rick, I just knew the Gganbu Gang was a big threat. Honestly, Rick probably would've made it to the top three, if not won the whole thing, because he's so wise and likable. He had to go.
I wasn't playing for the viewers, I was playing to win. And the amount of support I got inside the dorms was a hell of a lot different than outside from the viewers. That's also because there's no context. I came out of the woodwork, I was a fly on the wall. If you knew who I was and about my background as much as you did [for Rick and Stephen], then you probably would have a different perspective. But nobody's looking at screen time when you're playing the game.
Do you have any regrets from your time on the show?
The only thing I regret is pairing up with Ashley during marbles. I went up to do jack-in-the-box because I was hoping to get an advantage. The advantage that was pulled by Player 130 was that he would've been told the next game was marbles and not to pair up with somebody. We'd just had back-to-back eliminations, so we thought the picnic was just a treat for everybody. Obviously, all that did was send me home.
But for everything else, I'm happy that I did what I did. I played to win and I would not change any of my moves.
After the show came out, there was a lot of talk about the contestants' poor living conditions. What was your experience with that? I remember hearing about players using condoms for chapstick.
It was pretty rough. We didn't see the outside unless we got a break after a serious, intense moment, like Jack-in-the-Box for me. But even when we went outside, we were trapped in a tent because of the paparazzi. We never knew what time it was. And the food was absolutely horrendous. It tasted like nothing. We would eat boiled chicken, either undercooked or overcooked vegetables. Some people left just because they didn't like the food.
We didn't change our uniform, we only got one and they didn't wash them. Ashley started washing her shirt in the bathroom sink, but production told us to stop because we were ripping off our numbers. So it was pretty raunchy in there. It smelt bad. ... It was pretty much like a mini prison.
But you mentioned the condom situation. It was me and another girl who started that. My lips were so dry because we were in this container, pretty much. There was no lip balm but there was this whole thing of condoms, so we took a handful and started telling people about them. The next thing you know, the condoms were all gone in a couple hours and everybody was using them as chapstick.
So you're the one who started the condom chapstick. Did it work?
You know what? No. It was great for like two seconds but it was not lubing up the lips like you need. Four or five days in, we ended up getting actual Vaseline — probably because the only thing we talked about for the first couple of days was our lips being dry, so they were not getting any good footage.
I'm surprised they provided condoms. Were people hooking up on the show?
There was a showmance that happened. I can't give names. But once I was in the shower and these two players were waiting for me to get out, and then they went into the stall and showered together. ... I don't know if condoms were used for those purposes because they didn't restock them after the chapstick thing, I don't think. It's funny because they made sure to say in our contract that they weren't testing anyone for STDs, so if you decide to do that then that's on you.
I'm shocked the showmances weren't shown on screen. Did anything else happen that you were surprised was omitted from the final show?
A few things. Like when the phone rang [in episode two], you saw Player 198 pick it up twice in a row. But the phone actually rang four times. First 198 picked it up and he got the hamburger. Then it rang again and another person got donuts. It rang again and another person got pizza. And then it rang the last time, which was the elimination of 198.
For the [dalgona challenge], if your cookie broke, depending on how much broke off, you could potentially stay in the game. That's actually what happened to me. There were a lot of people you didn't see pass the game because their cookie broke a little bit and adjudicators had to assess your cookie to see if it was okay for you to move on.
The show got the majority of the highlights, but there was a talent show, a volleyball game — a lot of stuff we were doing to pass the time.
How have things been for you since the show aired?
When the first five episodes came out, I was getting trashed through the internet. Everybody hated me. I was the worst villain. If you looked at any TikTok in those first five episodes, people were just dogging me and dragging my name through the mud. But after the second batch of episodes came out, people moved on to the next villain, which was Ashley.
I still get it on my social media. But what affected me the most were the people writing negative reviews on my cleaning business page and my podcast page. To attack how I get paid is another type of low. I was very naive to the world and how people are disgusting, nasty and rude. It's shocking to see. But I got support from reality TV people from Survivor, Big Brother, the Circle. A lot of the people who reached out were people of color and they've all said the same thing: unfortunately, it comes with the territory.
If you want to be on reality TV, you sometimes get a bad edit. Even if you get a good edit, people still send you death threats and attack you. The world we live in is not pretty. It's died down now, but I got reminded by Netflix that if a second season comes out, people are going to watch season one again and I'm going to be hated again. It's going to be a cycle that I'll probably never live down, until I get on something else and prove myself a little bit better.
Have there been any positive outcomes from your time on the show?
Yeah, of course. There are trolls but there's also love, and I would say the love outweighs anything. I'm glad that Netflix gave me a platform to speak about the LGBTQIA+ community, how we struggle to conceive and the IVF and IUI process. I've had people in same-sex relationships reach out to me about how they're struggling to conceive. I'm so happy that I get to encourage people to keep going. The trolls and the nonsense don't matter at the end of the day. It's who I can help.
What are you up to now? What's next for you?
Girl, your guess is as good as mine. I'm just taking it day by day. I'm enjoying the time with my family, my daughter, my wife. We're just going with the flow. ... I don't know what kind of opportunities the future holds. Maybe another reality TV show. You never know.
Would you return to Squid Game: The Challenge if they offered you a spot in season two?
Yeah, I would actually. I have to redeem myself. People only saw like four minutes of me and I cried every single time.
