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Fear Factor Tank

Barry Williams might have surfed the wild waters of Hawaii on The Brady Bunch but nothing quite prepared TV's Greg Brady for diving into a Fear Factor tank filled with more than 1,000 snakes.



FEAR FACTOR: What was going on in your head when you first saw the tank?

BARRY WILLIAMS: When I first heard that there were going to be snakes in the water, I was thinking, okay, well, maybe there'll be four or five, six, seven, 15 snakes or something like that. Not over a THOUSAND, including that big boa constrictor.

FEAR FACTOR: You were the first contestant to enter the tank. What was it like going first?

BARRY WILLIAMS: Right away, I wanted to get kind of a feel for the mood of the snakes. I mean, I didn't know if these snakes even liked water. So ultimately, I just had to put that out of my mind altogether and trust that someone had tried this or trust that it was going to work out all right and they weren't going to all come attacking me at once.

FEAR FACTOR: So what was your strategy once you got in the water and had to start swimming through all those snakes and retrieving the yellow pucks from the bottom of the tank?

BARRY WILLIAMS: I just focused on the task at hand. I blew out a lot of air, so that I could stay down at the bottom, and that was helpful so that I could turn over as many of the pucks as possible. I'm a water skier, a body surfer and a certified scuba diver. But there were other elements that I had not considered, such as while I'm down there and trying to keep myself down, sometimes my feet are brushing up against hundreds of different snakes. And then there's that image of what's going on at the surface, that you have to break through that layer of snakes and then go back down again.

FEAR FACTOR: Why did you agree to come on Fear Factor?

BARRY WILLIAMS: I've been excited about doing this show. I'm a fan of the show. I'm kind of looking at this as my wilderness challenge adventure, kind of a chance to face my fears and move past them. Of course, the competition is always good. And the other reason I showed up is because of all the pretty girls you've put together on this show [laughs].

FEAR FACTOR: You're competing against Penn & Teller, Gena Lee Nolin, Keshia Knight-Pulliam, Natasha Henstridge and Matt Cedeno. What did you make of the competition?

BARRY WILLIAMS: Well, it's hard to say because these competitions are unique, and so one personality fits better to a certain event than another one. And you have to see how people are under stress. Certainly through my life, I've been under stress almost constantly, and learned to deal with it and cope with it. I like to think I can remain cool and still pull off the stunt.

FEAR FACTOR: Do you think it's a good strategy to smacktalk your Fear Factor opponents?

BARRY WILLIAMS: Sure I do. I think intimidation, as a competitor, is always a good thing, because anything that throws the other person a little bit off, or gets him thinking about one more thing, works out to being an advantage. We're all actors and there's a natural sort of competition that comes with that. You go into an audition room and there are two hundred other people and you want to come out the winner.

FEAR FACTOR: Do you consider yourself to be a tough competitor?

BARRY WILLIAMS: I've always been competitive. I've played all kinds of water sports and organized sports -- Little League, tennis, swimming. Competition's always been a big part of my life.

FEAR FACTOR: What's your secret fear?

BARRY WILLIAMS: If I had to be locked in a coffin for 30 minutes, I might not do very well in that, because I don't like tight spaces.

FEAR FACTOR: If Barry Williams were to take on Greg Brady in these stunts, who would win?

BARRY WILLIAMS: Well, Barry Williams has always been a little bit more experimental than Greg Brady. And I think Barry is probably a little bit stronger than Greg would be.

FEAR FACTOR: Are people going to be surprised by your performance on Fear Factor?

BARRY WILLIAMS: I think people are going to be surprised just by the fact that I'm here. I have legions of Brady Bunch fans that I know will be pulling for me, and I can't let them down.