Million Dollar Secret Season 1's 12 Players Ranked From Worst To Best (Including A Surprising Top 3)

This season of Million Dollar Secret on Netflix gave us a master class in game-playing from a few standout participants—and it gave us a look at how some thrived under pressure, and some crumbled due to stress. Either way, it was a thrilling show to watch, with all eight episodes of Million Dollar Secret season 1 delivering action, drama, and deceit. In the end, dark horse Cara Kies managed to nab the $1 million, and she showed some truly stellar strategy in the process.

Some of the Million Dollar Secret cast hung on longer than necessary (I see you, Kyle Wimberley), while others barely had a chance to show their stuff (sorry, Se Young Metzroth and Lydia Blair). And still others barely had time to explore The Stag before they were sent home (farewell, Harry Donenfeld).

The show is a study in human behavior, a mix of The Traitors and Lord Of The Flies, and it spotlights the lengths one will go to win life-changing money.

Here’s my list of the players ranked based on skill set, clever strategy, physical prowess, and sheer luck.

12

Harry Donenfeld

Eliminated: Episode 2

Someone always has to go home first. In Million Dollar Secret‘s case, that unlucky one was Harry Donenfeld, who arrived at The Stag eager to sip champagne and mingle with the rest of the participants. Harry, 59, wasn’t as flashy as some of the others. We didn’t get enough time with Harry to learn much about him. He didn’t even have a chance to build up a backstory.

Unassuming Harry’s only misstep wasn’t even a flaw in his strategy. It was the fact that he got the cast to hold hands for a prayer, which is the tradition in Hawaii, where Harry’s from. Lauren and Lydia both clocked that Phillip instructed everyone else to hold hands or physically touch hands twice, and they were suspicious that it could have been a secret agenda. It wasn’t, but Harry still got eliminated through basically being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

11

Se Young Metzroth

Eliminated: Episode 2

I had such high hopes for sweet Se Young. She arrived at The Stag, fully intimidated by the rest of the cast. She said her strategy was to fit in as much as possible, despite not being very social or having much in common with the others. Se Young is smart, she’s a systems VP from San Francisco and a self-proclaimed “nerd,” so I gave her the benefit of the doubt that she’d dominate the show.

Alas, Se Young let the pressure get to her. After being accused of odd behavior, Se Young couldn’t contain her emotions—which made her look more suspicious. As the cast descended on Se Young, she cried, “I’m not suspicious, I’m just weird,” but it wasn’t enough to save her. She was eliminated in episode 2, and I just wish she’d been able to remain in control of her emotions and see what she was capable of.

10

Phillip Roundtree

Eliminated: Episode 5

I wanted to rank Phillip “Phil” Roundtree higher than number three, especially since he remained in the game for a good bit. Phil survived three eliminations, and he was successful in helping to eliminate others like Se Young. That ended up backfiring on him, as yes, his persistence in pointing the finger at Se Young was effective, but it left a bad taste in the others’ mouths. It was also suspicious because Phil seemed to go hard for Se Young, and the others couldn’t really understand why.

Phil was even the millionaire at one point, and he managed to complete a secret agenda of making the others scream with him. But when the clue pointed to Phil as the millionaire, he didn’t really argue with it. It’s clear as day he’s the millionaire, and the others all know it. Nothing could save Phil at that point.

9

Chris Allen

Eliminated: Episode 6

Chris Allen’s greatest downfall was trusting Sydnee Falkner. Sydnee, a model, knew that she could sway Chris to be on her side. All she needed to do was make him feel special. She flirted with him and told him she felt a connection to him – she felt that they had an unspoken way of communicating with each other. Chris even commented, “Sometimes I feel like a contest winner, like the Ivy League nerd who scored a date with a supermodel.”

Oh, Chris. He got distracted and caught up with Sydnee’s affections.

The others knew Chris was a liability, since he was under Sydnee’s spell.

While he did say that he voted against Sydnee at one point (even though he was lying), it was clear he was infatuated with her. In the end, he was blinded by Sydnee, and that cost him his spot at The Stag.

8

Lauren Jean

Eliminated Episode 3

I’m sure a lot of people would rank Lauren as one of the worst players this season, but I have love for Lauren.

Lauren was the first millionaire, not by choice, and it was a lot of pressure.

She’s not someone who likes to lie, and when she had the chance to move the money to someone else, she took it happily. I’ve never seen a person so happy to not be a millionaire anymore.

Despite Lauren’s elimination in episode 3, I have to say, Lauren impressed me at points, which is why I’m ranking her so high. She absolutely dominated a few of her secret agendas, masterfully getting everyone to hug her on the first night and dropping her song titles into conversation naturally. Lauren’s biggest mistake was when she revealed that she was the first millionaire after it was randomly given to someone else (Phil). This backfired.

In Lauren’s mind, being honest about her millionaire status would endear her to the group, and it would make them want to keep her around since she knew some of the secrets of being the millionaire. The others saw it differently. They felt they couldn’t trust her now, and she was eliminated shortly thereafter.

7

Kyle Wimberley

Eliminated: Episode 7

Kyle didn’t stand out for me as a good or bad player. He managed to remain in the game for a lot longer than others, finally getting eliminated in episode 7. He clocked that Sam Sepulveda was acting suspiciously, and was one of the only ones to seriously question her and make her very uncomfortable.

I’m ranking him number 7 because he outlasted so many others. There weren’t any moments of genius game-playing with Kyle, but he did stick to his guns when questioning Sam. Kyle ends up getting eliminated, not through a group vote, but through a “kill shot” the millionaire (Cara) has. Cara knew Kyle would be on to her, and she took him out before he had the chance.

6

Lydia Blair

Eliminated: Episode 5

For a player who got eliminated rather early (episode 5), Lydia was a shark of a player. She had to go because she was too good, in my mind. Lydia played her cards right, establishing herself as a sweet ol’ grandma from Texas, and neglecting to reveal that she was actually an expert poker player.

Lydia was observant, and she would make calls based on the things she quietly saw. She formed alliances as she saw fit, and even tried to throw a challenge at one point for the greater good. I think Lydia would have made it far, but once she got entangled with Sydnee, Sam was able to eliminate her (but make it look like Sydnee did it).

5

Jaimi Alexander

Eliminated: Episode 7

Jaimi laid low for the first few episodes, letting the others take more of the spotlight. She made it far, getting all the way to episode 7 before she was eliminated. For me, Jaimi’s biggest flaw was her defensiveness. Whenever she was questioned, she immediately barked back, never letting it roll off her back. It made her look more suspicious than she actually was.

Jaimi also aligned herself with Sydnee in later episodes. Sydnee couldn’t be trusted, but she always managed to get someone to align with her. First, it was Chris, and then Jaimi. And in the end, Sydnee voted to eliminate Jaimi, proving that Jaimi shouldn’t have trusted her in the first place.

4

Corey Niles

Runner-Up

Corey’s game didn’t start to heat up until the later episodes. Although he was an actual runner-up, I ranked him lower than Sydnee, since she displayed strategic prowess throughout the entire show. Corey also fell into the same trap that Chris did with Sydnee, as Corey seemed to really trust Cara after she complimented him and batted her eyelashes at him a few times.

He even inadvertently saved Cara when he told her that Sydnee was gunning for her. He trusted Cara, not knowing she was actually the millionaire. Corey managed to guess the millionaire correctly a couple of times, but it wasn’t enough to save him.

3

Sam Sepulveda

Runner-Up

From the beginning of the series, Sam stood out. She’s a tough NYC cop, but she lied about her background, telling the others that she was a stay-at-home mom and crying about how she’d use the winnings to help her with her infertility.

Sam was so savvy, I immediately felt she’d emerge victorious.

Sam stayed in the game to the end, eventually ending up as a runner-up. She was involved in so many challenges, so many alliances, and so many games of deceit that it was hard to keep straight. Her “Can you hear that ring?” agenda was absolutely masterful. Sam was a shark in the water the whole time, using her relationships with everyone to her advantage. Her downfall was trusting Cara, but Sam still played a stellar game.

2

Sydnee Falkner

Eliminated: Episode 8

Sydnee got the most screen time this season, probably due to her beauty and wit – she was very good at hiding her identity from the others. Sydnee told them she was a bottle service girl in Scottsdale, but she didn’t mention that she grew up in Alaska hunting bears and working in oil fields.

Sydnee was a beast at the challenges, displaying a physical prowess that blew the others away.

She also used her beauty to fool Chris into thinking she would align with him, saying, “I am single and not unattractive. It would be foolish not to use what you have as an advantage.”

Sydnee should have made it to the bottom three based on the whole game. She was much better than Corey, who only started to shine towards the end. Sydnee was strong from the beginning, and remained that way throughout. She knew people would underestimate her, and she used that as part of her strategy.

1

Cara Kies

Winner

Talk about an underdog. Cara wasn’t even on my radar until the final two episodes, when she became the millionaire.

Suddenly, a new side of Cara emerged.

Cara relied on her intuition, and her greatest achievement was lying to Sam about how many siblings she had. This lie took her to the end.

The reason she knew to lie? She said her intuition told her the clue was going to be something sibling-related, so she lied on the spot. Truly the greatest move of the season, since Sam immediately trusted her after and shared more of her secrets, not knowing she was sharing them with the millionaire herself.

Cara threw a game to get her partner, Sydnee, eliminated. She then outsmarted Corey in the final challenge, a masterful move that sealed her fate as the winner. Cara’s game-play during those last two episodes was stunning, and even though she came from behind, she earned that million dollars in the end. She earned her spot on this list as the best player of the season.

Million Dollar Secret season 1 is available to stream on Netflix.