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EYE JACKPOT

When you play a Fear Factor slot machine in Las Vegas you won't lose any money but chances are you'll get a full stomach. Contestant Charisse Rivers recalls the spin that landed her a disgusting plate full of cow, fish and sheep eyes.

FEAR FACTOR: So you took a spin on the slot machine and wound up with an awful combo plate. What were you thinking when you saw all those eyes staring up at you?

CHARISSE RIVERS: I glanced down and I looked back up right away when I saw those six eyeballs laying on the plate. I knew if I looked, I would gross myself out. I could not tell myself I was eating eyeballs, or it would not go down. So I said "cherries." Cherries was the word of the night.

FEAR FACTOR: So you thought "cherries" and then just dove right in?

CHARISSE RIVERS: I just grabbed. I didn't care which one I grabbed. I just didn't want the biggest one. I grabbed the smallest one. I put it in my mouth and I'm crying "cherries" in my brain. The first one popped in my mouth. I didn't breathe, because I didn't want to taste it. It just was gooshy and ooshy and crunchy. And I was pretty much praying. I was crossing my toes, you know, everything possible.

FEAR FACTOR: Was the first one the hardest to get down?

CHARISSE RIVERS: As I started to swallow, I thought "eyeball" and I gagged. And that was like the scariest moment ever. I just started thinking "cherry, cherry, cherry, cherries." I think I said it a quatrillion times within a couple of seconds.

FEAR FACTOR: So eventually you got around to eating the big cow eye.

CHARISSE RIVERS: The cow eye was just horrific. It just pops in your mouth. The juice went flying and half the time it was coming out of my mouth. As I was chewing I actually came up with a tactic. I had to swallow the juice first, then keep chewing on it to swallow the gooshy part. And then once I got to the main crunchy, hard part, I broke it down. And that was the only way I could do it.

FEAR FACTOR: Do you think you'll ever forget your Fear Factor eating experience?

CHARISSE RIVERS: It was the most disgusting thing ever. I don't wish it upon anybody. Every time I eat now, I smell those eyeballs. It has not left me. I'm definitely traumatized. It's official.