This article contains spoilers for the first five episodes of Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge.
Although Stephen Lomas is a wildly popular contestant in Squid Game: The Challenge, it’s not his first time receiving love from fans.
Before Stephen became an instant favorite when he paired up with No. 232’s Rick on Netflix’s newest reality competition show, the man who sported No. 243 had already amassed a large following on TikTok for his family-friendly viral videos featuring his partner Alix Blahnik, and their daughters, Aurora and Miya.
At the time of this writing, their @AlixandStephen TikTok channel has garnered more than 74 million likes and boasts nearly 1.5 million followers. Several of their videos have broken the one million view mark, including a video of Stephen giving his daughters a ride on top of a garbage can, and a video comparing how Stephen and Alix play differently with Miya.
Their most viral video, which has pulled in over 20 million views and four million likes, shows Stephen dropping the remote control for his television, and using Miya to retrieve it:
The channel also had two videos surpassing 15 million views last year, including a montage of Stephen’s parenting moments. Stephen’s TikTok fame is relatively new, but he earned it well before he appeared on Netflix for the first time.
Squid Game: The Challenge premiered on November 22, but it was filmed in January in England. The 30-year-old from Missouri traveled across the pond with his friend Chase. They intended to play alongside each other, but Chase was immediately eliminated in the opening challenge, “Red Light, Green Light.”
The loss of his buddy forced the admittedly “needy” Stephen to seek out another close bond. And he found it with Rick. The two forged a father-son dynamic early into the competition, and they strategically worked together as part of the “Gganbu Gang.”
During a confessional, Stephen admitted that his father was no longer in the picture, and his admiration for Rick, a 69-year-old physician, was palpable — and the inseparable duo was beloved by viewers around the world. Through the first five episodes, the two men were arguably the most popular contestants on Squid Game: The Challenge.
Unfortunately for them and their fans, Stephen and Rick’s run for the $4.56 million came to a crashing halt in episode 5. During a dormitory elimination test, No. 229 Phalisia was forced to eliminate three players, and she chose to oust Stephen and Rick, back to back.
Regardless, with his family, reality TV stardom, and virality on TikTok, Stephen will be just fine.