Josh Petersen ate his way through Bison testicles, cow tongue and live cockroaches and grasshoppers to secure the coveted $300 UVU Bookstore scholarship from UVUSA’s reproduction of NBC’s “Fear Factor.” The internet and local butcher shops were the sources for the edible portions of the competition.
The annual event drew approximately 50 spectators who came to witness 20 competitors contend for textbook money. The first three rounds eliminated 17 people, leaving three to compete in what is simultaneously considered the most repulsive, yet alluring round in “Fear Factor:” consumption of live insects and livestock reproductive parts.
The first round saw contestants fish for edible Gummi worms in a large Tupperware bin filled with large, live mealworms and cockroaches, while the second round had the contestants struggling with a variation of bobbing for apples, substituting water for syrup and tomato paste, and apples for ping pong balls. The third round moved everyone outside to the Courtyard to compete in a ropes course over freezing water. The fourth and final round separated the men from the boys; that is, it saw Petersen become the first contestant to consume the entire wriggling, butchered contents of his plate.
“There was a little gagging, but no one threw up,” said freshman Emily Woodhead, a spectator at the event. Commenting on Petersen’s winning technique, Woodhead said, “He inhaled. He just kept shoving stuff in his mouth.”
As for why she and many other students declined to compete, Woodhead said,”I don’t want to eat gross things. Maybe for $1000.”
Something to keep in mind for next year, UVUSA.
–Deven Leigh Ellis–Asst. Life Editor
