'Million Dollar Secret' Is Loaded With Tension and Drama, but Is It Scripted?

The tension runs high in Netflix’s competition series Million Dollar Secret, so high you could cut it with a knife. Set in a prestigious lakeside estate called "The Stag," which one contestant described as a total "Princess Diaries moment," the show gathers 12 strangers competing for a $1 million prize, which is hidden in one person’s room, while the rest have empty boxes. The real challenge is keeping that secret under wraps.

Throughout the show, which is hosted by Peter Serafinowicz, there are plenty of thrilling and scary tasks, like chipping chunks off an ancient glacier for the host’s drink or facing a fierce reptile (literally).

The premise of the show is simple: "Getting the million dollars is easy." But the real question is, "How far are you willing to go to keep it?" With all the twists, turns, and high-stakes drama between cast members, it naturally raises the question: Is Million Dollar Secret scripted?

Nope, Million Dollar Secret isn’t scripted. Everything that happens on the show is very real, and the heightened drama only makes things more intense for the contestants (and more entertaining for viewers at home).

"The emotions and the tension … it’s all real. Everyone tries to keep it together, but some just can’t handle the pressure," host Peter Serafinowicz told Tudum.

There’s a lot of money at stake, and we all know how that can mess with people and their relationships. Still, finalist Sydnee Falkner from Season 1 told Mirror ahead of the April 9, 2025, finale that it "wasn’t all tense and plotting," adding that the cast had "fun, raw moments of joking and laughing together."

But the reality is, the show is built on deception. As Peter explained to Tudum, "This game is about lying and deceiving people, taking them into your confidence, and pretending to be friends."

And if reality TV has taught us anything, it’s that high-stakes games like this are a breeding ground for explosive moments. "The participants are in this crazy situation," Peter continued. "They wake up, and they’re in this game 24/7." Over time, trying to figure out who’s lying and who’s playing dirty can wear anyone down and bring out a whole other side of people who, let’s be honest, really want that $1 million.

Sydnee further reiterated this in her interview with the Mirror, revealing that the tension didn’t end once the cameras stopped rolling. In fact, it even followed the cast into their group chat and spilled over onto social media.

"As much as everyone understands that we played a game, I do see castmates feeding into the negativity or drama via posts or comments online — that is hurtful, if I’m being honest." She added, "We all went there to play a game. It wasn’t personal against anyone."

Since Million Dollar Secret isn’t scripted, meaning the intense moments between strangers are all real, contestant Corey Niles’s reflection on the mental toll hits pretty hard. "It was mentally exhausting to be able to keep up with everybody in this house [because they’re] so smart and good at this game," he told Tudum.

It may have been even more challenging for Corey, especially since, as several Instagram users pointed out in the comments on one of his posts, he had the "worst intuition ever," getting things wrong more than a few times. That’s obviously got to take a toll. Nonetheless, Cara Kies walked away from Season 1 as the winner and $1 million richer.