This is the kind of sadistic ordeal to which the participants of Fear Factor célébritéswhose eight one-hour episodes will be posted online on Crave on June 5. Patrick Huard hosts this Quebec version of the famous Dutch concept, which continues to be adapted almost everywhere on the planet.
As for Big Brother célébritésthese are stars who participate. Each guest personality forms a duo with one of their close friends. For example, in the first show, Mariana Mazza chose to compete with her mother Sonia, aged 70.
“I want to prove to the people of Quebec that it’s not because you’re 70 that you don’t achieve anything in your life; you can surpass yourself!” says a convinced Mariana.
Olivier Primeau asked his father Dominique to play with him, while Catherine Peach comes with her father Richard.
As the events take place underwater, high in the air or involve bugs, you have to be strong to participate in Fear Factor célébrités.
While in most competitions, participants want to win at all costs, those of Fear Factor célébrités are ready to lose, often convinced that they will never succeed. Some find in them superhuman courage; others give up.
Because there are limits to having cockroaches thrown at you, holding your breath underwater or jumping from car to car 40 feet above the ground!
Each show takes place in three stages. First, a first test pits the three teams against each other. In the first, the duos must climb a structure hoisted 50 feet from the ground, and bring back as many flags as possible.
The winning team of the first event, which Patrick Huard calls “stunt”, benefits from an advantage for the second event.
And this second “stunt” is worthy of Get me out of here! Blindfolded, the star personality must wear an Elizabethan collar, while his teammate throws various critters in his face. They range from snails to mice and earthworms, which the star must identify without seeing them.
“It’s the most panicking thing I’ve done in my entire life,” admitted Mariana Mazza, the most expressive of the candidates, without surprise.
I was very impressed with Catherine Peach; she is the one who remains the calmest.
In this type of test, it’s the first time that I hear a participant say: “It’s [comme] a facial massage!”
It’s also the first time I’ve seen someone give up so early in an event. I’ll let you find out who it is, but you might be surprised.
Only the two best teams advance to the final “stunt”, which takes place in the evening. The one from the first show is quite spectacular and involves two cars hoisted very high into the air.
While the artist is behind the wheel of the car, his teammate is locked in the trunk. The idea will be to find the right key to free mom or dad from the trunk, by jumping from car to car and walking on the hood.
I was dizzy just watching the test.
A mother remains a mother; seeing mother Sonia reassure and console her daughter Mariana as if she were still a child, it’s beautiful and touching.
The winning team can donate the $5,000 cash prize to an organization of their choice.
While the participants of the first came accompanied by a family member, it is possible to team up with a friend, a spouse or even a colleague. In the second show, Mario Tessier, Dominic Paquet and Ludivine Reding take part in the game.
The risk of adapting such a concept here, with our infinitely smaller budgets, is that it shows on the screen, which is not the case here. We are dealing with quality production.
Excellent at animation, Patrick Huard doesn’t just play sadists; he can even cry in front of competitors who surpass themselves.
After the first two episodes, released on June 5 on Crave, we will add two new episodes every Friday. The eighth show is a behind-the-scenes tour of the production, provided to us by Entourage, in collaboration with Bell Media.
To react to this column, write to us at opinions@lesoleil.com. Some responses may be published in our Opinions section.
