Viewers couldn’t believe the staggering price of one basic comfort as the Sidemen’s new Netflix experiment immediately put its £1 million prize pot under pressure
The Sidemen have barely dropped their latest group of contestants into the wilderness, and one eye-watering purchase is already getting viewers talking.
Netflix’s new reality series Outside began with 12 content creators competing for a share of a huge £1 million prize pot.
There’s a catch.
Almost every comfort comes at a price, and whatever contestants spend comes directly out of the money they’re trying to win. Netflix describes the first episode as descending into “cash-splashing chaos” following a surprise announcement.
But one purchase in particular has caught viewers’ attention.
A bed reportedly cost £40,000.
Yes, £40k. For somewhere to sleep.
And judging by the early reaction, viewers are already wondering whether such enormous spending could come back to haunt the contestants.
How much did the bed cost on Sidemen Outside?
The bed featured in the first episode of Sidemen: Outside cost £40,000, according to viewers discussing the episode after its Netflix release.
The extraordinary purchase quickly became one of the biggest talking points among early viewers.
One discussion about Episode 1 immediately highlighted the £40k bed and questioned whether the spending could ultimately contribute to the contestant responsible being eliminated. Another viewer separately wondered what would happen after someone spent £40,000 on somewhere to sleep.
It’s not difficult to understand the reaction.
£40,000 represents four per cent of the entire starting £1 million prize pot.
And this isn’t money being spent after contestants have won.
Every expensive comfort potentially means less money waiting for whoever eventually survives the competition.
Why does everything cost so much on Sidemen Outside?
The ridiculous prices are part of the game.
Outside takes the basic temptation mechanic familiar to viewers of the Sidemen’s Inside and moves it into the wilderness.
Netflix says the contestants have been thrown into a forest where they must battle through challenges, temptations and scheming for a share of £1 million.
The difference is that living outdoors makes those temptations considerably harder to ignore.
Before the series even launched, the trailer showed contestants discovering that their wilderness accommodation didn’t come with the comforts they might normally expect.
Even beds weren’t simply provided.
Food, somewhere more comfortable to sleep, and other luxuries can therefore become expensive decisions, with each purchase reducing the potential prize.
Suddenly £1 million doesn’t look quite as safe.
Viewers are already baffled by the spending
The £40,000 bed isn’t attracting attention in isolation.
Early reaction to the premiere suggests the contestants’ attitude towards the prize money itself is becoming one of the most entertaining parts of the programme.
One viewer said they couldn’t get used to the group’s “reckless spending”, while others questioned whether some contestants were genuinely concerned about protecting the prize pot at all.
That tension is essentially the point of the format.
A contestant who refuses to spend may protect the money but could make life considerably harder for themselves.
Someone who repeatedly buys comforts gets an easier experience but risks irritating everyone else by burning through money they could eventually share.
And spending £40,000 on a bed is hardly going to go unnoticed.
Who is competing on Sidemen Outside?
There are 12 contestants attempting to survive the Sidemen’s wilderness experiment.
The line-up includes Too Hot to Handle stars Chloe Veitch and Louis Russell, Gladiators star Matt Morsia, rapper Paigey Cakey and creators Dani Babes, Heinz Baines, Kaci Jay, Lacy, Moyo, Sara Saffari, TheBurntChip and Yonna Ray.
It’s a deliberately varied group, which means attitudes towards spending are unlikely to be the same.
And that’s already becoming obvious.
The first episode is titled “Losers Will Get Punished”, with Netflix teasing that an unexpected announcement sends the contestants into their spending frenzy.
Why the £40k bed could matter later
Spending money isn’t merely there to create outrageous television.
It changes what’s ultimately available to win.
The contestants began with a potential £1 million, but every comfort eats into that amount.
That creates an interesting social problem.
If one contestant spends heavily while everyone else tries to preserve the pot, that decision could influence how they’re perceived by the rest of the group.
Early viewer discussion is already speculating about whether the £40,000 purchase could put its buyer in danger.
Whether it actually affects an elimination remains to be seen.
But after only one episode, the Sidemen appear to have found exactly the kind of decision their format is designed to provoke.
How badly do you want a bed when it costs £40,000 of the money you’re trying to win?
And perhaps more importantly, how happy will everyone else be when you’re spending their potential prize money too?
When is Sidemen Outside Episode 2?
Viewers won’t have to wait long to see the fallout.
Outside premiered on Netflix on 28 September, and current episode listings have Episode 2 arriving on 29 September, followed by new instalments across the week. The season is listed as having eight instalments, including a reunion on 4 October.
That means the £40,000 bed may only be the beginning.
With the contestants still facing days in the wilderness and every comfort threatening the prize pot, the more interesting question might soon become not what they spent £40,000 on, but how much of that original £1 million will actually be left.