Fear Factor

Back in December, when NBC was promoting the return of the TV show Fear Factor , the stunt and gross-out reality competition, there was one event that the producers and the host, Joe Rogan, would not discuss. It was extreme even by the standards ofFear Factor , they said at the time, and they didn't know if it would ever be broadcast.

Now we know what stunt they were talking about. Last week TMZ reported that a scene that forced contestants to drink donkey semen had been hotly debated, and then given the thumbs-up by NBC. Apparently dishes featuring on the series are considered a delicacy somewhere in the world.

The episode that included the scene was supposed to be shown last Monday night. But the network apparently changed its mind, and the show was replaced with a repeat..

Come mid-August New Zealand television audiences will have the rare privilege of seeing the shock horror episode of Fear Factor that has been banned in that home of the depraved - the United States of America.

What was it that could possibly offend audiences on a show that regularly challenges contestants to eat or drink repellent creepy crawlies and vile piles of gut-heaving substances that every normal instinct would have you recoiling from?

And the answer to that question is - dare I say it or even write it - donkey semen. Truly: donkey semen. Any semen would be controversial but donkey semen seems particularly wrong, and the idea of humans - dare I say it or even write it - swallowing it is the stuff of bad porn movies.

And these are not just shot or sherry glasses of the offending liquid. These are large Viking tankards of the stuff, and regurgitation is prohibited. If a contestant vomits it up, they cannot proceed to the next challenge, thus forfeiting the dosh.

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