Why Joe Rogan Regretted Returning to ‘Fear Factor’
Joe Rogan got his start in the Boston comedy scene in the ‘80s, but he didn’t become a household name until his stint on America’s most disgusting reality show, Fear Factor. Rogan himself admits that he got the job because he could not have cared less about the gig, and cops to the show being ridiculous.
Fear Factor originally ran from 2001-2006, and had a brief revival in 2011 that did not last long — it was canceled early due to one stunningly disgusting challenge. When the show came back to air on MTV in 2017, Joe Rogan turned it down. In fact, Rogan says he regrets returning to the show in 2011.
Why Rogan regrets returning to ‘Fear Factor’
When Joe Rogan returned to Fear Factor in 2011, he was not happy with himself. In fact, it sounds as if he wasn’t very happy working on the show to begin with.
On an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan said, “When I was on like Season 5 of Fear Factor I remember thinking, ‘I don’t know how much longer I can do this.’ It was the same thing over and over again. We did 148 episodes. After a while it was like, Jesus Christ, how many animal d*cks can you serve people. How many times can you throw them off buildings?”
One YouTube user commented, “Joe talks about Fear Factor like he was mining coal or something.”
Rogan went on to add, “I did come back, in 2011. I came back. But I didn’t have as much money back then and also it was a lot more money than I got the first time. It was a big deal that it was gonna come back, but I immediately regretted it. Like immediately. Like oh my god, I have a job again.”
Apparently, Rogan came back because he realized he needed to plenty more money saved up to support his children. He soon realized he was miserable again, however. Rogan said, “Once I started doing it I was like, ‘Oh my god this is a mistake. This is a mistake. I don’t like it.’”
When his guest asked if he ever felt any moral pangs about the challenges, Joe Rogan replied, “No, because I would have done it when I was broke. I would have eaten an animal d*ck.”
The episode that canceled ‘Fear Factor’
According to Joe Rogan, the revival of Fear Factor also saw an uptick in how wild the challenges became.
Rogan said, “They were taking a lot more crazy risks. One one of them you had a set of keys and you had your partner, who was handcuffed to a tree. And they were attached to a bungee cord that was attached to a helicopter, okay, and the cord was taut, and they were flying in the sky above a giant canyon. You get these keys and you’re working these keys, and the idea is the first person to get the key lock open, you unlock the thing, and then boom, they’re shooting into the sky. And I remember seeing them going, what if something snaps, what if something breaks, what if someone falls to their death?”
Rogan also revealed that the show was canceled following a horrific challenge in which contestants were required to drink donkey semen and donkey urine. Rogan explained, “They played horseshoes, but they could never win. Even if you made a ringer you’d have to drink one ounce. But if you f*cked up you had to drink 10, 11, 12 ounces. These were jugs, jugs of [semen].”
“So hard to imagine that was a real show,” added Rogan. “Well, this was the one that killed it. That episode killed it.”
