NBC.com

FISH QUICKSAND

Miss USA contestants are accustomed to tough competition but nothing could have prepared them for diving into a tank filled with millions of fish scales and drinking a glass of fermented squid guts. Fear Factor contestant Elisa Schleef tells all.

FEAR FACTOR: So the object was to find the container of squid guts in the tank, bring it to the surface, and then drink it down. Did you have a strategy for finding the container?

ELISA SCHLEEF: Well, I had no idea what to expect going in there. When I first went down to look for the container I wasn't digging deep enough because I didn't realize where the bottom was. Once I was down there they were really heavy and you really had to push all the scales aside.

FEAR FACTOR: How disappointing was it each time you came up with an empty container?

ELISA SCHLEEF: It was so frustrating to go from one container to the next. You open the first one, the second one, the third one. Nothing. Then you can't find one. Then I found the fourth one. Again, nothing. Finally, I found the fifth one and it had the squid guts and I was so relieved. But so much time had passed by.

FEAR FACTOR: So when you finally found the right container, what did the squid guts taste like?

ELISA SCHLEEF: It was beyond the grossest thing I've ever tasted in my life. It was very salty and slimy and gross and it was in huge chunks. It was like trying to swallow a big vitamin but worse. It was horrible.

FEAR FACTOR: You tried to drink down the whole glass at once but that plan seemed to backfire on you.

ELISA SCHLEEF: Well, when I first grabbed the cup full of squid I wanted to just down the whole thing in my mouth. I thought I could just open my mouth and just let it all slide down. But it was just way too much and the taste was just so disgusting. I had to spit some back up because I needed to take smaller gulps of it. Then, between gulps, the aftertaste just hits you. And it was just so hard to take another gulp and another gulp and another gulp.

FEAR FACTOR: Is it safe to say that it was the most disgusting thing you've ever eaten?

ELISA SCHLEEF: I think by far it was the most disgusting thing that I've ever eaten.