The Mole season 2's top 5 contestants reveal why they participated in the show

The Mole concluded its second season on Friday, July 12. The Netflix show, which was based on deception and strategy, featured contestants from various walks of life competing to win a grand cash prize.

Each player put up a facade, spun a web of lies, and took calculated steps to evade elimination while trying to keep the others fooled about their gameplay. The contestants attempted to complete missions and add cash to the prize pot, while the saboteur/mole tried to create hurdles and stop them from winning money. By the finale, the pot contained $154,000.

In episode 10, Sean unmasked himself as the mole, taking everyone by surprise. Meanwhile, Michael beat Muna in the final quiz, securing the cash prize for himself.

After the show's conclusion, the top five — Deanna, Hannah, Sean, Muna, and Michael — spoke to Parade in an interview published on July 12. They recalled their journey on the show and discussed what motivated them to participate.

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Top 5 of The Mole season 2 shed light on why they wanted to be on the Netflix show

When asked what inspired the players to apply for a game show like The Mole, Sean Bryan credited his wife for his participation in the show. He shared that he watched the original version of the show with her, which was hosted by Anderson Cooper in the early 2000s.

After the ABC series was canceled, Netflix renewed the show. Sean revealed that his wife "got an advertisement or notification" for a casting call for season 2. It piqued his interest and his wife urged him to compete.

"So the wife made it. She started it," said Sean.

Sean was a former undercover narcotics investigator and was cast as the saboteur in the show. Throughout the series, he kept his profession hidden, introducing himself as a stay-at-home dad. He also expertly concealed the fact that he was the mole, making the reveal in the finale shocking.

Michael O'Brien, who emerged as the winner of The Mole, said he "heard nothing" the first time he applied on the show. He revealed that he applied twice before he got a call finalizing his participation in the competition.

He stated he thoroughly enjoyed the first season of the show on Netflix. Watching the players struggle to complete the missions while being unaware of the saboteur's identity left him on the edge of his seat. However, he declared that "representation for the LGBTQ community" was the main driving force behind his participation.

"This cast alone, you look at everybody, and it's such a diverse cast. And I think that's one of the best things that came out of this season is everyone got to represent what their life is and what they stand for," said Michael.

Muna Abdulahi, the 24-year-old software engineer, wanted to earn the cash prize for her family. Although she failed, she was delighted that she could be a part of the show. Muna told Parade that she was a fan of the "franchise as a whole." She also mentioned she used to watch the Belgian version of the show, De Mol.

A fan of game shows, she could not contain her excitement when the opportunity to audition for The Mole came her way.

"And so I saw the ad somewhere, I forgot where it was, and I applied the old-fashioned way," she said.

Hannah Burns was the last contestant to be eliminated before Muna, Sean, and Michael headed to the finale. She was heartbroken that she was eliminated so close to the finish line. However, she did not regret her time on the show. When asked what pushed her to apply, she shared that she watched the previous season and thought it would be a thrilling experience to be a part of "such a dope show."

She landed a position on The Mole by applying through an Instagram ad and said:

"I don't know, they probably heard me talking about it, and targeted me. And so I applied."

Lastly, Deanna Thompson, who viewers had already seen on the Netflix series Don't F**k with Cats, revealed she was not interested in applying to the show. She said she was approached, but declined the offer. She feared that her gameplay on The Mole would clash with her professional responsibilities as a web sleuth as lying and scheming were necessary tools for surviving in the game.

However, after much contemplation, she accepted the offer as an "internal challenge" to see if she could utilize her professional skills to figure out the mole's identity.

"I was like, "Well, okay, let me make it an internal challenge to see if I can take my computer skills and sleuthing and my data analysis offline to the real world." So I thought of it as an internal challenge, and how fun would that be to see how it works?" she mentioned.

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All episodes of The Mole season 2 are currently streaming on Netflix.