So the buff guys who do extreme feats just for kicks are back. Okay, so maybe they are also enticed by the cool R500 000 that comes as a prize for the winner, among other things.
Bar One Manhunt is an SABC3 show that takes Tarzan-like young men and gives them various challenges that range from really stupid to macho.
The first season had a few men try out the tasks with one guy voted off each week. It was like Survivor meets a televised copy of Men’s Health magazine. The primary target market is possibly the gym guy and the girl who loves the gym guy.
The 2012 nationwide search was done through exciting auditions held at Gateway in Durban, The Mall of Rosebank in Joburg and the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. As I attended the launch last week, I got asked a trillion times if I was a contestant and I realised why that was so after a while.
Any guy with a little bit of flesh and height was eligible to enter, but it was the one with a bit of personality who got the nod.
Of the 25 men selected, apart from the prize money, one of them will walk away with a Harley Davidson V-Rod Muscle Bike (valued at R300 000), a Mahindra XUV 500 (also valued at R300 000) and the honour of being the winner. I can do with everything else but the honour, because let’s face it, you will get the respect you need when you blast past with your Harley and half a million bucks in your pocket.
Over the next 10 weeks the contestants are divided into teams and asked to take on extreme challenges from death-defying stunts to action-packed activities. This is the stuff that Jason Statham would die to be a part of.
As we shall see, from now on their lives will be characterised by sleepless nights and long, tiring days. It is a burst of testosterone where men are separated from boys.
The one part I am envious of is the travelling. This year the men will travel to exotic destinations around the globe, from Zanzibar to Nevada. Here they will be under the watchful eye of the tough Marilyn Grubler, who owns Sandy Valley Ranch.
An episode that we are tipped not to miss is the one shot in China. Here they will be put through the final endurance and mental challenges as they are trained at the Shaolin Monastery in the Kunyu Mountain under the guidance of the Wushu Master.
Let the games begin.
* Bar One Manhunt 2 airs Thursdays at 8pm on SABC3.