Total Wipeout

Total Wipeout is an excellent TV show on the BBC channel. The contestants have to finish an obstacle course which is surrounded by water and often pools of mud. The twenty contestants battle it out to win the grand prize of £10,000.

The show is set in Argentina and is presented by Richard Hammond, who often gives the contestants nicknames and makes fun of them while they’re doing the course, but in a friendly way. Amanda Byram interviews the contestants and congratulates them once they have finished the course.

There are 4 different rounds with a lot of different obstacles. In the first round, The Qualifier, there are obstacles like the sucker punch; where you have to avoid punches on a climbing wall. If you fall, a mud pit catches you and you have to crawl out. There are also the big red balls; these are four huge red bouncy balls and you have to bounce across them to the other side.

The second round is called the sweeper; there is a long sweeper and the contestants stand on a small podium. They then have to jump over the sweeper; this takes out contestants until there are five remaining. This continues to see who the last man standing is.

The third round is called Dizzy Dummies. The contestants are spun around and then made to do a lot of difficult obstacles while they’re dizzy. This is usually one of the funniest rounds as people are falling all over the place.

The final round is called The Wipeout Zone; the three remaining contestants are put through a lot of difficult obstacles like the spinner and the brusher. The spinner is where you jump onto a spinning platform and try to stay upright. You then continue onto the brusher which is a spinning log with prongs to brush you off. Then the contestant with the quickest time wins.

There is also an American version of Total Wipeout, presented by Bob Monkhouse. The American version is very similar, although it has bigger cash prizes and is filmed in California, rather than Argentina.

By Amy