‘On Air Dare’ was a skit that aired on Nickelodeon and was looked at as the kid version of ‘Fear Factor’. Young actors and actresses would be put up to dares, such as getting covered with peanut butter, sitting in a tub of worms, and so on.
Some of the actors who were part of ‘On Air Dare’ are coming forward, claiming they were uncomfortable with the show, and producer Dan Schneider is addressing those claims.
‘On Air Dare’ Featured ‘Tube Chambers’
YouTube | Vintage Kid
Former Nickelodeon child star Bryan Hearne referred to ‘On Air Dare’ as “the ‘Fear ‘Factor of Nickelodeon,” adding that they had to stand in “tube chambers” as they waited to see if their name was called to perform the dare.
“I did the peanut butter one,” Hearne explained of the dare in the newly released docuseries, ‘Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV’, “So I had to be submerged in peanut butter, that was weird, but then the dogs came and I’m laying on the ground and the dogs have to lick peanut butter off my body.”
Adding, “That sounds like some awkward fantasy from some freaky dude. It was really uncomfortable.”
Former Nickelodeon Star Describes ‘On Air Dare’ As ‘Traumatic’
Kyle Sullivan, another former Nickelodeon star, also touched on ‘On Air Dare’, claiming “those [scenes] were particularly traumatic, and they were designed to be.”
“You had to do something scary on camera, and it got pretty scary,” he admitted. The show took “things from an adult context like ‘Fear Factor’ and transmogrified it to kids, “Sullivan claimed, which is an “inappropriate thing to do.”
Hearne brought up some of the other dares children had to go through, addressing his own dare. “I didn’t need to have dogs lick the peanut butter off,” he said, before adding, “Kack didn’t need to be submerged in a pool of worms. I don’t think any of that was necessary.”
“The most uncomfortable thing was having to watch your fellow cast mates be essentially tortured,” he admitted.
Dan Schneider Admits Some Of The Dares ‘Went Too Far’
YouTube | Vintage Kid
When asked about the ‘On Air Dare’ claims made by some of the ‘All That’ cast, Schneider admitted, “I think that some of the ‘On Air Dares’ went too far. I think they pushed the envelope too far.”
He then clarified, “Not all of them. Not most of them, but some did.”
“Nickelodeon wanted to do their version of ‘Fear Factor’ at the time we were shooting ‘All That’,” he explained to BooG!E, who played T-Bo on the hit series, ‘iCarly’, “So, I was tasked with shooting these ‘On Air Dares’ with the ‘All That’ cast.”
“So we get with the writers, and we come up with all these ideas,” he said, adding, “and it’s hard to do because we don’t have the budget of ‘Fear Factor, and we can’t put the kids in dangerous situations like the adults are put in so it was hard to come up with stuff.”
Dan Schneider Says He Had ‘No Indication’ The Kids Were Uncomfortable
YouTube | DanWarp
Dan Schneider continued to tell BooG!E that he and the writers “would come up with all these ideas of dares [the kids] could do.” Before taping the dares, Schneider explained they would first go to the network, who would “tell us the ones that were okay.” The approved dares “are the ones we shot” and “those are the ones that aired.”
Now that some of the former cast is speaking out on how uncomfortable and “weird” they felt during the dares, Schneider claims, “At the time I had no indication that any kid ever had a problem with them, but when I was watching the show over the past two nights, I now know that there were kids who did have problems with the ‘On Air Dares’.”
“And it breaks my heart and I’m so sorry,” he continued, “I’m so sorry to any kid who ever had to do a dare or anything that they didn’t want to do or weren’t comfortable doing.”
Dan Schneider Claims He ‘Went Out Of His Way’ To Ensure The Dares ‘Were Safe’
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“We went out of our way to make sure [the dares and kids] were safe and that everything was done properly,” he said in the interview, adding, “but if a kid was scared and didn’t want to do it, [then the] kid shouldn’t have had to do it. Period. The end.”
Adding, “And if I had known at the time, I would’ve changed it on the spot.”
‘Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV’ is currently streaming on MAX.