I came across a Fear Factor edition airing on ETV which was more like “the things we have put our contestants through”, type episode but I am sure the producers prefer to call it Fear Factor Highlights or some nonsense like that.
You know with all the satellite and free-to-air programming debacle that’s going on. It is quite hard to keep up. Sometimes I feel like am watching a never ending repeats marathon. Anyway, I have always watched Fear Factor just to find out what they are up to (or remind myself) on each episode. But on the 18th May 08 I observed an episode featuring a guy eating maggots with cheese. That was the most revolting segment I have ever watched on the show, granted there are some severely traumatizing segments on eating, but this one took the cake. You probably have found some of their stuff equally disgusting, if not more. I don’t know why a person with a functional brain would want to partake in this sort of challenge for the sake of money.
Now the sight of maggots alone is enough to leave me sickened, but there he was, masticating on what seemed like a true test of his physical or mental ability. I prefer to call it – “
anguish in the pursuit of money”. As I watched him try to devour a hand full of maggots and this horrible looking cheese. I realized that the guy was determined. Let's take a moment to remember you what maggots look like:
Picture that mixed with old stale cheese! Jeez, were is my buff bag...Ewe!
Meanwhile the host of the show is edging him on. This is pure sickness in the name of entertainment. I guess it’s not enough that they get people to eat animal genitals and suck on goat “tities” to fill up cups on goat milk. The guy is busy regurgitating over his bowl whilst other contestants watch in sheer horror of what is no doubt a standing appointment with cheese and maggots to be honored in a couple of seconds. There was mucus coming out of his nostrils and he kept on gagging and swallowing a handful of that revolting mixture, all in the name of money. To top it all off, they were told if they complete the task (eating the whole bowl) within a certain time they will earn a guaranteed $1000.
You know I kept laughing whenever he coughed because I was just thinking “
is another maggot scratching your throat?” and he would cough again and I would think… “
oh another one is stuck on your throat and does not want to let go!”. This was hilarious but sad that a human being has to go through that just for money. What a world we live in.
As a result, The Observer presents “Is Fear A Factor for You?” picture blog:
The worms... Dunk your head in there .... and dunk fast!
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I think swiming with the gators would have been a BIG NO! on my part. 
I can't cope with the sting health wise, so I would be OUT!
I thought our lovely SAMMY from Days of Our Lives put up a good fight but within seconds she was freaking out. Wouldn't you? What looked like monster cockroaches on the head and snakes from the neck down! The charity can go starve, they can't afford my therapist!
This guy was watching a team mate freak out "badly" from being buried with scorpions and his expression made me laugh. Is Big Boy afraid? or Should I say "Thin Boy"?
The possibility of one or two of those worms crawling up your nose whilst your head is sectioned off. FREAK OUT ALERT!
Imagine this.... in your mouth?
People are always willing to do stupid things. I WONDER if their boyfriends kissed them when they got home. PS: those were dead rats!
100 snakes and a python. SORRY....GAME OVER. THERE IS NO WAY I WILL JUMP INTO THAT TANK. Stuff your show and prize money.
This is perhaps the best FREAK-OUT expression I've seen on the show.
We are all paranoid that those worms will make their way into our ears? You even start shaking your head on behalf of him, by the sheer horror of thinking about it happening to you, in an environment were there are no cameras and emergency medics on standby?
Ouch! That must have hurt and although nice to be suspended in mid air, how you got there is the problem. THUD.....and gravity welcomes you home.
Having to see someone carry worms with their mouth is not a very good reason to watch this program on a Sunday afternoon. You lunch may just make a U-TURN!
After being told that he would be buried with rats. This New York contestant was not HAVING IT! He walk out because he said there are so many rats in New York and he is terrified of them. HE WAS OUT OF THERE..... City boyz... you should visit "Mzanzi Fo Sho...". Baragwanath has a room for you just in case or should I say Veskopies!
These are the rats he was not going to lay down with. Rats carry some of the most fatal diseases to humans, not to mention the parasites they carry ranging from ringworms, ticks, mites, tapeworms, and fleas, amongst other things. CAN YOU SLEEP WITH THAT, EVEN IF IT WAS FOR 5 MINUTES JUST FOR CASH..... NO WAY. I will be using the same cash to pay medical bills from infections. Ewe!
You cannot ask me what is my worst fear and then you turn into a game, just so you can see if its a factor for me. I think the show is popular because a lot of people enjoy the humiliation associated with some of the stunts, not to mention the stardom attributed to reality show contestants. As for the other physical stunts, I tend to enjoy them and find them to be better than the other mental stuff. FEAR IS A FACTOR for everyone, even the most tough of people. We all have a breaking point and in most cases its associated with fear.
On the other hand, the localized version has never displayed such a perverted production as to subject contestants to such treatment. Yes, they did some crazy stuff, but I doubt this bad. If this show got canned, I would not miss it one bit.
The Observer's ReviewsNO! NO! NO! NO!
Stop broadcasting this soon after we EAT!
By The Observer
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