The host of Fox’s updated version of Fear Factor is a real Jackass.
Johnny Knoxville, whose MTV show Jackass was, like Fear Factor, a boundary-pushing staple of 2000s realit TV, will host the rebooted series (fully titled Fear Factor: The Next Chapter) when it premieres during the 2025-26 season. He’ll step into the shoes of Joe Rogan, who hosted the first iteration of the show on NBC from 2001-06 and again in 2011-12, and Ludacris, who emceed MTV’s version of Fear Factor from 2017-18.
“Johnny Knoxville is the champion of fearless entertainment,” Fox Television Network president Michael Thorn said in a statement. “His wild sense of humor, unmatched ability to push boundaries and take on the extreme makes him the perfect fit to lead this bold new reinvention of Fear Factor.”
Added Sharon Levy, CEO of Fear Factor producer Endemol Shine North America, “When you reimagine a series as legendary as Fear Factor, you need a host who is the epitome of daring charisma and spectacle, and that’s Johnny Knoxville personified. We’ll be pushing fear and social strategy to places that will redefine reality competition, which makes Johnny the perfect host for what will be a wild, unforgettable ride, and we’re beyond excited to see him unleash all the fear (and the fun) on our contestants and our viewers.”
Fox announced its Fear Factor update at May’s upfronts. In addition to the stunts and gross-out challenges that are the franchise’s hallmark, The Next Chapter will introduce an ongoing gameplay element to the show, with all the contestants living together and competing for a grand prize at the end of the season (earlier versions of the show had standalone episodes with new players each time).
Knoxville’s recent credits include a guest role on The Studio, the feature film The Luckiest Man in America and Hulu’s Reboot. He also was a host and judge on ABC’s 2023 unscripted show The Prank Panel. He’ll next be seen in the coming-of-age film The Marshmallow Experiment.
