'Fear Factor: House of Fear' host Johnny Knoxville reveals he was invested in behind-the-scenes gossip about the show's contestants. The Johnny Knoxville Turned ‘Fear Factor’ Gossip Into A Breakfast Ritual first appeared on The Blast

“Fear Factor: House of Fear” host Johnny Knoxville is opening up about one of his favorite parts of filming the reality competition show: keeping up with behind-the-scenes gossip about contestants. He recalled reading daily updates during production, turning it into a morning routine while having breakfast.

Season 1 aired its final episode in March, and Knoxville will be returning for a second season after the show was renewed, giving him more gossip fodder with a new set of players.

Johnny Knoxville Talked ‘Fear Factor’ Gossip With His Wife

At the Deadline Contenders TV panel on April 25, “Fear Factor: House of Fear” host Johnny Knoxville and Executive Producer Michael Heyerman discussed the series, a reboot of the dare game show that originally aired from 2001 to 2006 and was hosted by Joe Rogan.

Unlike the original “Fear Factor,” the reboot requires contestants to live together in a creepy house where they can strategize and form alliances, adding an extra layer of drama to the already stressful challenges they face.

As Knoxville revealed, he gained a new hobby while filming the 10-episode series. “One of my favorite things is the first thing in the morning when we were shooting was they would send out the gossip report — the ‘hot gos report’ of all the things that are happening in the house. And my wife and I sat over breakfast every morning loving it,” he said during the panel, per Deadline.

The Host Was Invested In The Relationships

The original “Fear Factor” was a self-contained competition where a new set of three men and three women competed against each other in each episode. The reboot added a social-strategy element and had a player eliminated each episode until one was crowned the winner at the end of the season. This allowed Knoxville to get to know the players better and form bonds with them.

“I’ve never had a host be so invested in the hot sheet that comes out the morning of,” Heyerman said of Knoxville’s keen interest in the players. “I was really invested in it. Who’s trying to form a friendship, who’s backstabbing someone, is that a real romance or a showmance, did they kiss or barely kiss? I love it,” explained Knoxville.

Knoxville formed a kinship with some contestants, admitting that he became emotional when some were eliminated. “I turned into that person, but you can’t help it. You form relationships with these people.”

Johnny Knoxville Dishes On His Fear

Knoxville doesn’t seem like someone who scares easily, especially given his history of facing dangerous and often frightening situations throughout “Jackass,” where he regularly pushed himself through stunts that would intimidate most people. However, he revealed one thing about the show that scared him.

In the first season, the challengers were made to face their biggest fears, including getting shocked, being buried alive, and being stuck with dangerous animals and critters, among other things. “Snakes, fine. Spiders, fine. I don’t care about heights. But the communal bathrooms in the house, it gives me anxiety. I don’t want to live with 14 people and have to share a bathroom. I’ll go out in the woods before I’ll do that. That gives me fear,” Knoxville shared.

The Stunt Performer Felt Like A ‘Perverted Life Coach’

In an episode of the podcast “Books That Changed My Life” released in January, Knoxville spoke about his experience on “Fear Factor: House of Fear,” saying that his initial thought upon taking the project was to make the contestants’ experiences “worse” for them. However, as they started filming, his perspective changed, and he ended up encouraging the players to conquer their fears.

Knoxville said he told them not to quit, and to “at least try it.” “I became like a really perverted life coach,” he said, as he alternated between scaring them in one moment and motivating them in the next. The actor said he ended up liking the contestants and had more fun hosting than he expected.

Johnny Knoxville Returns For ‘Fear Factor’ Season 2

A two-part follow-up special titled “Fear Factor: 48 Hours of Fear” will premiere on May 14, where six contestants endure challenges for 48 hours without sleep. Fox also announced that “Fear Factor: House of Fear” has been renewed for a second season.

As reported by Variety, the first episode of Season 1 drew in 16.5 million viewers from various platforms. “Johnny Knoxville’s fearless, unpredictable energy makes him the perfect ringmaster,” Fox Television Network President Michael Thorn said. According to him, the team behind the show is now “plotting new ways to raise the shock-and-awe quotient for Season Two.”

“Fear Factor: House of Fear” Season 1 is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+.

The Johnny Knoxville Turned ‘Fear Factor’ Gossip Into A Breakfast Ritual first appeared on The Blast