Brendan Fevola said he came close to choking to death while filming The Amazing Race: Celebrity Edition, describing an eating challenge in Uzbekistan that was cut from the broadcast.
Fevola, 44, who competed on the series with his 18-year-old daughter Leni, told Fox Radio’s Fifi, Fev and Nick on Tuesday that Racers were required to consume 30 bowls of a thick molasses-like local delicacy to find a letter at the bottom of a bowl. He said other contestants, including Georgie Tunny and Rob Mills, became violently ill during the task.
"They...had filled up two buckets of spew," Fevola said, recounting the scene. "I couldn't breathe and a medic had to come...it was awful." He said the choking episode did not appear in the episode that aired on Monday.
Fevola also addressed the controversy over alleged intimidation and bullying that unfolded during the same season, saying he intervened when he witnessed a contestant repeatedly direct homophobic slurs at Luke and Scott O'Halloran. The brothers, who use the nicknames Luke and 'Sassy' Scott, told media outlets that the incidents began at their hotel in Nepal on a day off from filming.
"Dan Middleton approached us six times, making remarks and gestures that we found homophobic, offensive, intimidatory, and disturbing," the O'Hallorans said in a statement reported earlier. They said each encounter felt increasingly aggressive and that at one point Middleton was "right up in our faces, surrounded by some of the other cast members." Fevola said he confronted the person involved and apologised to the O'Hallorans for the abuse they received.
Reports initially emerged in April. Ant Middleton, a former SAS instructor and the brother of Dan Middleton, was not reported to have been involved in the incidents, but both Middleton brothers were disqualified and removed from the production, a move Fevola said followed his ultimatum to producers that he and his daughter would withdraw if the brothers remained.
Network Ten confirmed that a team had been disqualified for breaching the show's code of conduct. "Network 10 takes the health, safety and well-being of all contestants seriously," a spokesperson said. "Following a breach of the production's code of conduct by one contestant, on a day off during production, a team from The Amazing Race Australia was disqualified and swiftly sent home." The network did not identify the team in that statement.
On the radio programme, the O'Hallorans thanked Fevola for stepping in. "Without you, we have no idea where that could have gone," Scott said. Luke added that he and his brother had discussed their gratitude privately as well as publicly.
The series' producers edited the season before broadcast; Fevola said the choking incident had been removed from the televised episode. The show continued to air following the disqualifications, and the network has said it acted in line with production rules to protect contestants' well-being.
Fevola's account adds detail to a season marked by both physical challenges and off-camera conduct that drew network intervention. The O'Hallorans' claims and the subsequent disqualification prompted public discussion about behaviour by cast members during production and the responsibilities of producers to enforce codes of conduct.
The Amazing Race: Celebrity Edition episodes featuring the disputed season aired this month, and Fevola's radio interview took place the day after an episode that did not include his described choking incident. Network Ten and the show's production company have not released further comment beyond the earlier statement on the disqualification.