Glutton for Punishment

Cheese Rolling

The French love their brie, the Dutch revere their Gouda and Canadians swear by their cheddar.

But when it comes to cheese, no nation has as much pride as Jolly Old England. Bob travels to Gloucester, England for the Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling competition.

Haggis Hurling

Bob travels to Scotland to take part in one of the weirdest food competitions in the world haggis hurling! (Imagine a two-pound shot put made of sheep's organs, oatmeal and spices and you start to get the idea.)

Honey Bee

Bob has just four days to learn all about the secretive art of beekeeping before he enters the Beekeepers Games, a series of bee-themed events that will force him to confront one of his deepest phobias: Bees! Will Bob freak out as tries to grow a bee beard, with 40,000 bees crawling all over his throat?

Okie Noodling

Fishermen from all over Oklahoma come to Paul s Valley every summer to compete in the Okie Noodlin Tournament a bizarre derby in which anglers are allowed to use only their hands as bait! Bob must dive underwater, place his hand inside a catfish hole, and keep it there until a catfish bites him.

Fried Egg

Every year on the 4th of July, the ghost town of Oatman, on the edge of the Mohave Desert, hosts a sidewalk egg-fry that challenges all comers to cook an egg in 15 minutes or less using only the power of the sun. Bob s up against hardened solar-cooking desperados who have come to Oatman itching for a showdown with a TV host.

Watermelon Seed Spitting

Hope, Ark. is a small town with a big tradition. Each year, this small community of self-confessed melon heads hosts the Hope Watermelon Festival and Watermelon Seed Spitting contest.

The competition is fierce, attracting seed-spitting champions from all over the state. In between bouts of hard labor on a watermelon farm where the world's heaviest melons are grown, Bob will perfect his seed-spitting technique under the tutelage of 10-year-old champion Emily Rowe.

Garlic Braiding

Bob is off to Arleux, France, garlic capital of the world, to enter in a garlic-braiding contest. Bob has just one and a half minutes to weave 90 heads of garlic into a perfect traditional braid, and all the best local braiders are out to make sure they don t lose to a foreigner.

New York Street Vendor

Bob has just five days to master the cooking duties before taking over a food cart business at a busy New York City intersection of 40th Street and 8th Avenue for a grueling 12-hour shift. Will Bob be a hit on the street or road kill?

Pike's Market

The fishmongers at Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle don't just sell salmon, they toss it across the market, creating a spectacle of flying-fish that draws hundreds of customers each day.

To get familiar with what he is tossing, Bob picks up some salmon recipes from renowned chef Tom Douglas. Then he gets catching tips from Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Nate Burleson.

Pumpkin Regatta

In Windsor, Nova Scotia, they take their love of the orange legume to another level, paddling hollowed-out, giant pumpkins across a lake.

Bob's challenge is to transform a 500-pound pumpkin into a sea-worthy vessel, then whip himself into shape so that he can paddle with the best.

Corn Husking

Bob heads to South Dakota to compete against America's best cornhuskers at the National Cornhusking Competition in Dell Rapids. Most of the competitors are in their golden years, but they are able to shuck at a rate of almost one ear per second for 30 minutes straight.

Perfect Steak

Grilling the perfect steak is every backyard chef's ultimate challenge. Too much time on the grill can turn even the finest fillet into leather, and too little time turns can turn your guests green. Bob's challenge is to learn how to cook the perfect steak in only 4 days, then become the head grill master at Bohanan's Prime Steaks & Seafood, a classic steakhouse in San Antonio, Texas. When customers pay over $150 dollars for a 34-ounce Kobe-style steak, they want it done perfectly. An order of medium-rare served without the exactly correct shade of pink will cost Bob his job.

Fugu (Fish)

Fugu, also known as blowfish, is a deadly Japanese delicacy that carries enough poison to wipe out an entire restaurant of diners. In his most dangerous challenge to date, Bob travels to Osaka, Japan to prepare and eat his own Fugu. Will he survive the ultimate Glutton for Punishment challenge?