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TOMATO HORN WORM JUICE

If there is one rule in the Fear Factor universe it is that money can be one hell of a motivator. When returning Fear Factor contestant Jeanette Jenkins agreed to come back and take another shot at the 50 grand she knew that she wasn't in for some tropical island vacation. Slurping up mouthfuls of giant green tomato horn worms, chewing them up and spitting the juice into a cup is one thing. But drinking the juice… well that's Fear Factor.

FEAR FACTOR: So our tomato horn worms broke you, how does that feel?

JEANETTE JENKINS: Yeah. I did make an attempt. I'm not disappointed. I don't think I did the best I could have done, but I went to the point of fear. I went to the point where I was, like, "Okay, this isn't enough money." If it was more money I think I could have cracked that fear threshold. I think I would have been able to tell myself "Okay, forget about it. Don't think about how disgusting it is. Just think about the money."

FEAR FACTOR: How much money would it have taken for you to do this?

JEANETTE JENKINS: Um, I think it would have taken me at least a quarter of a million, mayby even half a million to really be able to break on through to that next level. The eating thing to me isn't so much of a fear thing. It's just friggin' disgusting. So the question is how much money does it take to do something disgusting? There's so many different angles. It's only a moment in time, just get in there, do it, and call it a day. I guess I proved that theory wrong. I went in there and I did let it get to me, and even though it was a moment in time, I still didn't complete it. I didn't complete it because I had that second thought in the back of my brain "Okay, well, is it really that much money? No, it's not that much money, so forget about it."

FEAR FACTOR: How have you changed since the last time you were on Fear Factor?

JEANETTE JENKINS: I've definitely grown since the last time I was on. I'm not gonna do anything for money anymore. I'm just trying to take the positive step out of every situation. If I'm in a crisis situation, like not completing this stunt, I'll still try to always take the positive step forward. And the positive step in this situation is the fact that I'm honored to even be here as one of the favorites.

FEAR FACTOR: What was it like trying to do this stunt?

JEANETTE JENKINS: This stunt was no joke. When I saw those worms it cracked me. I thought they were absolutely disgusting. I thought I would not be able to put a worm in my mouth. So I feel like I got over one fear just to even get those worms inside my mouth and to chew and spit them out. It was disgusting. I mean, once you got the worms in your mouth it wasn't so bad. It was looking at it and having to stick your face in the plate, and then put it in your mouth. Once you put your face in the plate, you feel all the worms around your mouth, which is revolting. And then you get some, and, of course, you can't get them all in your mouth, so then you've got some dangling off the side of your face and you can feel them crawling around and it's disgusting. You get pricked by a couple of them, because they have thorns on them. And then you can still feel them crawling around. So, you chew, chew, chew, chew, chew.

FEAR FACTOR: You had all that worm juice filled up to the line, why did you quit? Why didn't you finish the stunt and drink the juice?

JEANETTE JENKINS: Almost. I almost had all the worm juice filled up to the line. Once Noel was ahead 'a me, and he got to the point where he passed me and I wasn't going to drink that. I decided to just let him have it.

FEAR FACTOR: This is what I don't get, Jeanette. You were right there. You filled up the glass, and then--

JEANETTE JENKINS: I was right there, and I cracked. It's a game of fear. It just grossed me out so much that the next time I had to stick my face in, I just couldn't do it. Negative thoughts just flooded my brain and my emotions took over, and couldn't go on.

FEAR FACTOR: You think maybe in a couple days you're gonna be pissed about this?

JEANETTE JENKINS: No. If it was a million dollars I'd be pissed. It's that line of how much this money is gonna change your life. Like, $50,000 dollars is not gonna change my life that much at this point in time. If it was a million dollars, I would'a been pissed, 'cause it would have been a big loss. I'm okay with the fact that I didn't complete this stunt, because bottom line is, the purse just wasn't enough money. There wasn't enough money involved for me to be able to complete it.