“I’d trust the death adder more. He’s not trying to win prize money,” Aussie comic Jim Jefferies told TV Insider about the contestants in the new game show he’s hosting, The Snake, in which 15 players from persuasive professions share an Argentinian jungle house and compete for $100,000.
“Funnily enough we have a poker player,” Jefferies deadpanned about Los Angeles card shark Devonte Kavanaugh. “We also have a detective [Derek North from Illinois], a jewel thief [Texan ex-con Bryan Sobolewski], a pastor [Californian Jacob Buchholz], and an OnlyFans creator [Miamian Alyssa Grassie]. All of those occupations can persuade you in different directions.”
Each week, one player wins a challenge, gets designated “The Snake,” and starts the chain-reaction Saving Ceremony by choosing a contestant to stay. That player gets to save another, and so on, until the last unselected one gets sent home. The Snake makes the call between the final two.
Early on, as seen in the first teaser trailer (above), tech manager, Kethryn Cavender, from New York City must choose either Florida police officer, Kailee Fessock, or Indianapolis Colts cheerleader, MacLaine Funsch. Cavender ugly cries in front of her fellow players about the guilt she feels, and then later says coolly, “I think I deserve an Oscar for that performance.”
Challenges teased in the clips include the gross-out stuff we’ve been seeing since Fear Factor, like being immersed in a box of creepy crawly bugs. There’s a nod to The Traitors trademark move of shutting players in caskets. And then there are some challenges that could only be set up in, well, the Argentinian jungle. “I was shocked by some people about how far they would push themselves in the challenges,” Jefferies told us. “I learned to never judge a book by its cover in this game. I saw someone who was prissy one day and was swimming through fish guts the next.”
That doesn’t sound pretty. Luckily, there’s a makeup artist contestant, Frank Lavecchia from North Carolina, who might be able to do touch-ups in a pinch. But as Jefferies said, what you see may not be what you get. The expected law-abiders like Virginia attorney Amanda Short and Oklahoma bounty hunter Mena Samara may just dip into their knowledge of criminal minds. Tennessee bull rider Cody Brewer and Florida boxer Brett Covalt could be hiding chess brains under all the brawn.
“To win, you have to be a very well-rounded person. You have to be good at the challenges. You have to be good at the social game. Being friendly and kind can win you the game,” says Jefferies, which gives us hope for sweet Austin non-profit director Jack Micco. “You can also win the game by being a liar, a scumbag, and a cheat. But more than anything, I think you just need a good poker face.” Some people in the corporate world will tell you that means HR director Jordan DeJesse is a shoo-in. We’ll soon find out who has the coldest blood.
The Snake, Series Premiere, Tuesday, June 10, 9/8c, Fox (Streaming next day on Hulu)
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
