Last Night’s TV – Tough Guy or Chicken?
Well, well! Who’da thunked? A – relatively – new concept in reality TV shows. I say ‘relatively’ because there were some possible comparisons in this show with Blood, Sweat and Takeaways and any number of macho-orientated challenge shows, but I don’t think Aunty Beeb has ever before offered us a show that’s quite like this one.
Five British lads, Reuben Feldt, Ross Edgley, Ben Roper, Nick Barratt and Easton Woodburn – in that order as pictured above – have been sent off around the world to face some of nature’s toughest fighters and battles to prove which of them is indeed, Tough Guy or Chicken.
They also needed to prove who had a strong stomach, as some fairly grisly scenes ably demonstrated. However, there was a cracking sound track which included Kings of Leon and Blur, so that was ok then.
This first episode introduced us to the competitors, who pretty much all caused my ticker to flutter somewhat; Reuben with his new age (and awesome) dreads and spiritual nature loving soul, Ross who’s built like a tank and has muscles on his muscles, Ben who’s a vegetarian and animal lover, Nick, a dancer and all round creative type and Easton, a fireman who’s one of those guys who will do pretty much anything for a dare.
For their first challenge – other than sleeping in a shack with bats and creepy crawlies flying around – the lads had to become chagras. The well trained chagra will ride his horse boldly and skilfully into a herd of bulls and trap them for branding. The unskilled chagra, or the one who makes a mistake, will, most probably, find himself very dead.
We saw how the five Brits had to cope with the reduced oxygen of the Andes as well as taking instruction from a no-nonsense seasoned chagra who wasn’t at all convinced of the lads’ ability to survive on horseback, never mind chasing angry bulls arounds.
One of the lessons was what to do if a bull charges – other than asking him if it includes a service charge – and most of the boys were woefully lacking in running off skills. However, help was at hand as dozens upon dozens of chagras turned up for the annual bull round-up. I’ve never seen so many ponchos in one place before.
But the beponcho’d men soon proved there was to be no mincing about – despite looking a bit gay in their knitted outerwear – and we watched as they killed a bull in order to provide meat for the week. Poor Ben couldn’t watch and cried as the animal was tied up and slaughtered. And I don’t blame him; it was pretty sickening to watch.
More hideousness followed – but Ben decided to have no part in it and instead maintained camp and cooked – when the boys trained in the art of lassoing. They took on calves which, once caught, were ‘marked’ which basically entailed cutting their ears in half. It was hideous but of course, it’s just the reality of life to those who do it day in day out. I guess it’s easy to have sensibilities when you can have them from the safety of your couch and eat only meat that comes nicely packaged in cellophane, deluding us into conveniently forgetting it was ever a live animal.
Anyway, the action continued unabated but poor Easton developed worsening altitude sickness and was told that if he had fluid on his lungs, he could potentially die within 24 hours if he didn’t go down from the high altitude. The poor lad wept as he reluctantly conceded to the inevitable and had to leave to get treatment.
That left just three of the boys to finish the challenge, Nick, Ross and Reuben, and by now, all three had some war wounds to show off including burst blisters, cuts, bruises and burns, which they compared and crowed over as only the truly macho can. However, Reuben’s joie de vivre was compromised somewhat when he just didn’t cut the bull mustard and, for his own safety as much as anything, he had to drop out of the challenge.
By the end of the week then, Ross and Nick, having impressed the locals by not getting gored to death in a celebratory bull fight, were declared fully fledged chagras and given a ceremonial lasso. Awwww.
Next week, the lads will be facing the frozen wastes of Siberia in a bid to become reindeer herders, and judging by the brief clip we saw of their efforts, Prancer, Dancer and all the other reindeer aren’t quite as cuddly as one might expect…
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I dont think i have ever seen a bigger wuss than Ben. Go home to your mummy boy .
are you really that stupid? he’s vegetarian and the programme excluding him from that weeks competition for not taking part in the tieing up and slaughtering of an animal is absolutely appalling.
Rob your kind of guy i dislike.
Ben is a decent guy and is a much stronger person for sticking by what he believes in.
I’d much prefer someone like that who puts themselves out there than an idiot that feels the need to make such comments on this site after sitting on his arse watching it on the tv.
@matt Ben doesn’t seem to have thought this show through before he joined. If you are going to live within another culture and do what they do, which is part of the point of this show, that sometimes means slaughtering your own food and eating what they eat. And so far in one instance, the refusal to eat meat cost him an experience because the lack of meat in his diet in an extreme climate weakened him and made him a liability. He constantly refuses to step out of his comfort zone, then whines and moans about it like a spoiled child. He does not belong on this show at all. While Ben seems like a nice kid for the most part, that’s all he’s shown himself to be – a little kid.
If you can’t hang with the big dogs, stay on the porch.
Yeah! F**k the animals! Lol
Yep, this show should have been called Tough guy or soya bean curd…
Where did Ben think he was going unless he thort he was going to be going to a budist monistory and meditate, there was going to be the killing and eating of animals somewere, the men go out and do the killing dangers stuff women stay at home, not insult ment to women, he should be on a show that says “I’M NOT TOUGH AS IT GET TOUGH WATCH ME TAKE THE EASY ROUT AND STAY IN CAMP WITH THE WOMEN”
Easton just so fun saying im doing this for my son at home so he gets high and high just to fall the more then he fails but he did well in the last one at least he leant to swim better than drowning in the jungle.
Ben really doesnt deserve to be on this show.
He’s been presented with the oppurtunity of a lifetime and really hasnt put enough effort into it, it annoys me because its the sort of thing myself and im sure many others would love to do.
Surely he knew he wasnt a ‘tough guy’ before signing up?
i love him he’s so sweet and so nice i would love to meet a guy like that in in this day and age it’ll be hard
I LOVE YOU BEN
WILL YOU MARRY ME BEN?
NO I LOVE HIM MORE HE IS THE SWEET BUT I DON’T LITERALLY LOVE HIM! (GET WOT I MEAN PEOPLE)
he is so kind and i love his smile
aww HE’S SO SWEET ALL THE OTHER GUYS OR VAIN IDIOTS WHO JUST CARE ABOUT THEM SLEVES EXCEPT ESTON
i would take a bullet for ben
lol oj
fit
Ben is so sweet i love the show and who love to go and do some thing like that
BEN U R A CUTIE
XXXXXXX
YER BUT BENS JUST STANDING UP FOR WAT HE BELIEVES SO JUST LEAVE AND I WOULD PICK A GUY WEAK GUY THAN A GUY WHO THINKS HE’S GOD GIFT LIKE ALL THE OTHERS
The more I’ve watched the show, the more cynical I’m turning out to be regarding the relative waste of licence payers money (such as my own, all you UK based people reading this) sending these middle class tosspots around the world for them to disrespect local culture and customs and, in the case of a couple of the characters, not even show willing in completing the tasks at hand.
Still, engrossing viewing!
I love how at the start ben said he want to get out of this safe life at home but he has not put this self forward doest even want to do the dangous things. he might was well just stayed at home !!!
Loved the show but regards to Ben I blame whoever was responsible for choosing who goes on the show. THEY would have been the ones who knew what would be involved and known that Ben was a veggie. I do think though that maybe he could have stepped out of his comfort zone a bit more
Why is everyone talking about BEN? I think Ross is so much nicer. He is fit and muscular and has a great personality. Yes, he is cocky, but he knows it and its funny! Love you Ross!!
Actually think the person who picked the people were spot on, each person picked, had their own different ambitions, beleifs and personality, including ben was good though he didnt do too well, he was a vegertarian, he had a different personality to others as well, so all in all the inclusion off everyone was well thought out, i cant wait for the next series of this but i dont think no one can replace the original five.