The finale of Netflix's 'Physical: 100' is embroiled in controversy — including a dispute over whether the final challenge was rigged

• Netflix's top survival show "Physical: 100" was swept up in controversy when a media leak suggested the finale may be rigged.
• Since then, the runner-up, producers, and winner of the show have stepped forward with their own sides of the story.

Warning: Major spoilers below if you haven't seen "Physical: 100".

Netflix's latest viral survival show "Physical: 100" finished off with a series of exhilarating finale challenges on February 21, with Cross Fitter Woo Jin-yong emerging as the winner of the $230,000 prize money.

"Physical: 100" has topped and stayed on the Netflix Global Top 10 Non-English TV chart for five consecutive weeks now, but since the conclusion of the series, the show has been swept up in controversy after controversy – from one of the top female contestants admitting to being a school bully, to a contestant being arrested for assaulting his girlfriend with a weapon.

Now, even the integrity of the show's final challenge is being questioned by viewers.

Following the wrap-up of the show, instead of celebrating its global success, "Physical: 100" was immediately faced with accusations of the finale being rigged.

Rumors that the final rope challenge was repeated three times started to spread.

In the grand finale, Woo and runner-up Jung Hae-min faced off in a rope-pulling challenge, where they had to pull on a seemingly endless and heavy rope until someone reached the end of the spool, which was more than 1,300-feet long. The winner walked away with the $300 million won ($230,000) prize money, while second place went home empty-handed.

Netflix said that the production team from Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation, also known as MBC, who produced the show refuted any rumors of the rope challenge being repeated three times, according to a report on February 24 by South Korean news Sunday Newspaper.

At this point, the rumors remained uncertain.

On February 28, the producer of the show, Jang Ho-gi, used his personal Instagram account to comment on the rumors.

"Lies can become famous, but in the end, it can never become the truth," the producer wrote in the post's caption.

This sentence triggered runner-up Jung to break his silence in an exclusive interview with Sunday Newspaper.

Initially, Jung had rejected all media requests for comment, as he thought that speaking out would bring more harm to other contestants, despite feeling a strong sense of unfairness, according to the interview with Sunday Newspaper.

But as soon as he saw the producer's Instagram caption, he decided to speak up about what happened in the final match.

"When the match begun, there was a huge difference. According to the other contestants that were monitoring the match, there was at least a three times difference in speed," said Jung to Sunday Newspaper, "and when I passed the halfway mark, Woo raised his hand," he added.

According to Jung, Woo had requested a rematch from the producers midway, as he felt that there was "too much sound" coming from his rope machine, claiming that the wheel wasn't turning as smoothly as it should. Jung said that the producers found nothing wrong with the machine, but dealt with Woo's request by lowering the tension of the machine and oiling it up with lubricant, according to the interview with Sunday Newspaper.

And so the game continued afterwards, but not for long. "As I saw the end right in front of me, the production team yelled for the game to pause again," Jung told Sunday Newspaper.

The game was stopped a second time. According to Jung, the team found a technical issue with the audio, and that they have no choice but to re-film the challenge. The team, however, offered to cut the amount of rope that Jung had already pulled, as they acknowledged that Jung was significantly in the lead, according to Jung's interview with Sunday Newspaper.

Jung said in the interview that he had refused the offer to re-film several times, but ultimately gave in after feeling pressured by the production team.

In a YouTube video depicting an interview call with Jung by a South Korean YouTube channel "President of Entertainment Lee Jin-Ho," the runner-up mentions how after the broadcast of the final episode, people would ask him insensitive questions like "Your physique is way bigger so why did you lose?"

"That was giving me so much stress, and although I'm not sure how helpful it would be, I ended up visiting the hospital for psychiatric counseling," Jung told the YouTuber over the phone.

Faced with these accusations, the production team decided to release an official timeline of the events that happened during the filming of the finale.

In an exclusive report by South Korean news YTN, MBC's production team confirmed that the final challenge was in fact interrupted twice, but they said that they never tried to overturn or intervene with the results.

However, there are discrepancies between Jung's claims and the details in the official timeline reported by MBC per YTN. According to the timeline, which was compiled based on the original recordings and audio files, the first interruption was a result of an audio issue due to the loud noise from the wheels, making the recording impossible to use. After lubricating and checking both machines, the game was continued "as is," according to the timeline report by MBC per YTN.

The report also detailed that the second interruption was not due to an audio issue, as Jung claimed, but that the ropes around the machine were tangled, which prevented the wheel from turning.

Following the interruption, the production team had a long discussion with the two contestants to decide their course of action, per the report. Jung was said to be against having a rematch, as he was already in the lead, which the team confirmed about a 148-foot difference in rope pulled between the two, according to the MBC timeline report per YTN. On the other hand, Woo was against resuming the game, as he said that it would be disadvantageous towards him as Jung has rested enough for another spurt since the second interruption, as noted in the same report from MBC per YTN.

Finally, the two came to an agreement to rematch, but with Jung's rope cut 148-feet shorter to reflect the difference they had before the second interruption. The two then "restarted" the game with Woo at the original 400 meters (more than 1,300 feet), and Jung at 355 meters (about 1,100 feet).

After days of hate comments and pressure from the press, Woo finally took to his Instagram account to reveal his side of the story.

Since the beginning of the controversy, the official winner of the show has been bombarded with hate comments on his Instagram page. "You are so brazen," a comment with almost 400 likes as of March 7 read.

In his latest Instagram post on March 4, winner Woo posted a portion of the MBC official timeline, and said in the caption that the reported timeline was true to events.

"Particularly the accusation that I was the one to first raise my hand to interrupt the game, that is not true," he said in the caption.

"I think that everyone was sincere and did their best," Woo said in the caption, "I am feeling the heavy responsibility for the distortion of the contestants' hard work as a result of this controversy," he added.

Some fans are demanding the original recording to be released.

"There's no need to write such a caption, I think if you just requested the production team to release the original footage, it would be a good choice for you as well," a comment under Woo's Instagram post read. The comment has almost 700 likes as of March 7.

Jung refutes MBC and Woo's claims, saying that they are still lying.

"I am also being careful in case athlete Woo gets criticized, but a lie is a lie," the runner-up told Sports Seoul in a phone interview on March 6. The pro-cyclist stands his ground that the MBC timeline is untrue, and that Woo is also lying.

"I am upset not because I lost to Woo, I am upset that an active athlete (like me) lost as a result of these events being covered up, and that the situation is framing me as the liar," Woo told Sports Seoul.

Fans of the show are generally distraught at the whole dispute between the different parties.

"As a fan of the show, I am disappointed the finale has been tainted this way," a fan who has been covering news about the show on TikTok told Insider, "however, there were many beautiful moments I don't want to forget either," the TikToker, who goes by @krealitylover, added.

Insider has reached out to Woo, Jung, and Netflix for comment.