Fox is reinventing the legendary reality competition series Fear Factor and the network promises the latest version will be "bigger, bolder and more daring."
It is currently upfronts season for the world of television and broadcast, meaning the networks are providing updates on their planned 2025-2026, including plenty of renewal and cancellation news. Today Fox shared they are creating "The Next Chapter" of the iconic series and this time it will put a group of competing strangers together under one roof as they compete in various challenges.
With the contestants now living together in what I assume will be a broadcasted space, Fear Factor: The Next Chapter aims to add a social element to the series.
Here's the official logline shared by Fox:
Dropped into an unforgiving, remote location, a group of strangers will live together under one roof, and face mind-blowing stunts, harrowing challenges and a twisted game of social strategy where trust is fleeting — and fear is a weapon.
The stunt competition show originated in 2001 where it ran for seven seasons on NBC, followed by an MTV revival hosted by Ludacris in 2017 that ran for two seasons. This latest iteration on Fox marks 25 years after the series original premiere.
It seems unlikely that we'll see previous hosts Joe Rogan or Ludacris return for this one, so it'll be fun to see who Fox taps to pick up the hosting mantle from them. Rogan hosted the show from 2001 to 2006, but is now busy with his popular podcast series The Joe Rogan Experience.
Although Fear Factor has gone through multiple evolutions throughout its time, the original version pitted six contestants against one another as they competed in extreme stunts in the hopes of winning the prize money of $50,000. Typically, episodes focused on three different stunts, two that were about physical endurance, and one designed to test them mentally.
That's usually when the bugs came in. But there have been a variety of different stunts and formats throughout the year, with the show featuring celebrity contestants, couples, holiday episodes, and much more.
Given the nature of Fear Factor, I think it's understandable why the series has faced controversy, generally due to the mental-focused challenges which were typically the grossest. These are the challenges people typical remember most, tasking contestants to eat blended insects, live spiders, or spend time in pits filled with rats/snakes/roaches, etc. Organizations like PETA and the American Humane Association have spoken out against the show in the past.
Fox hasn't shared many other details about what to expect from their version of the series, but it will be produced by Endemol Shine North America, the production company behind series like The Face and The Biggest Loser.
It's also worth noting that this version will supposedly be "based on the original format," meaning it might go back to the early days of six contestants and three well-defined stunts: one physical, one mental, and one extreme action stunt challenge.