Prepare your stomachs as you enter the kitchen that makes Fear Factor: House of Fear’s wildest food challenges possible.
In Us Weekly’s exclusive clip from Reality Club, fans of Fox’s hit reality show are given an inside look at how producers create the wild and crazy food challenges viewers have grown to love.
“You know all those challenges that make your skin crawl and your tummy go, ‘Nope!’” host Johnny Knoxville shares. “Somebody’s gotta make that stuff. Meet our queen of gore.”
Without further ado, viewers are able to meet Fear Factor: House of Fear coexecutive producer Hannah Ganio. She invites fans into the Fear Kitchen “where we prepare loads of gross eating and drinking challenges.”
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“You have no idea how bad this kitchen smells. But in my opinion, Fear Factor wouldn’t be Fear Factor without our gross challenges,” she explains. “We’ve made sure — being the reboot of Fear Factor — that it’s going to be bigger and more disgusting than ever before.”
Need proof? Just discover how carefully Ganio and her team deal with rats before a challenge.
“The way that we prepare these is that we have to wash them with soap, and then we blow-dry them so they’re camera-ready,” she explains. “We have to prove that they’re fit for human consumption. We insert the glue stick up the bum and we pump out a little bit of glue and then we let it all set. We can’t have any possibility that any feces will go into the contestants’ mouths. It’s the glamorous side of TV.”
Viewers of all ages: Do not try this at home.
This season, contestants will have to try wild dishes, like fisheye pie, fermented herring and rotten egg pie.
“If I had to rate the ick factor from one to 10, it’s a massive 10,” Ganio shares in the clip. “This is mindblowingly sick.”
While the challenges leave some contestants feeling more than just a little sick, Ganio argues that it’s all part of the game.
“You just have to face your fears head-on because that’s the only way you’re going to get through Fear Factor,” she explains.
Fox kicked off the 2026 new year by launching a reboot of the beloved reality show, now titled Fear Factor: House of Fear. Joe Rogan hosted the show when it first premiered on NBC back in June 2021.
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Fourteen contestants from across the United States signed up for the new season in hopes of winning the $200,000 grand prize. In addition to confronting a few nasty food items, participants will also face their fear of snakes, heights, the ocean and more.
“I think the audiences are going to love this season,” Knoxville previously shared in a trailer for the season. “We’re going to have all your favorites from the old Fear Factor but we’ve switched things up. We start with 14 competitors, and they live together now. There are beefs and broken hearts. Now there’s one winner for the whole season.”
Fear Factor: House of Fear airs on Fox Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET and is available to stream the next day on Hulu.
