Alison Sweeney returned to Days of Our Lives a couple of months ago. It was a brief but memorable appearance that coincided with DAYS’ 60th anniversary. It’s a new year, and the actress recently reached way back to highlight a blast from the past. She posted a reminder of the time she willingly signed up for the reality TV competition, Fear Factor. It’s a clip that still makes people uncomfortable, impressed, and slightly nauseous all at once.
Key Takeaways
- Alison Sweeney revisited her Fear Factor past.
- She called the experience traumatizing and fun, without dressing it up.
- The image sparked equal parts admiration and disgust from fans.
- The moment still hits because it was real, not performative.
A Memory That Still Crawls
Sweeney kept her Instagram caption blunt and unapologetic, writing, “In honor of the new @/fearfactor I had to post my own traumatizing experience. Also, the most fun. So glad to be a part of this show’s history. [Joe Rogan] actually ate that freakin cockroach!! Thank you @mattkunitz!” She didn’t soften the craziness of her appearance on the reality show, just told the truth, as she remembers it.
The image she shared from the 2002 episode of Fear Factor does most of the talking. Sweeney is mid-challenge, eyes wide behind goggles, mouth open in full panic mode, buried in a coffin packed with writhing creatures all over her. It’s not made-for-TV fear. It’s the real thing, frozen in a frame that still makes your skin itch.
The comments had a shared horror vibe as one fan shouted, “OMG ALI!” Another admitted, “I was JUST telling my niece about that time you did this yesterday!!” Someone else offered admiration and limits in the same breath: “You couldn’t pay me a million dollars to do it.” More than a few people landed on the same verdict that they still can’t believe it.
Trauma, With a Side of Pride
What fans remember isn’t just that Sweeney did Fear Factor. It’s how fully she committed to it: The snakes, the worms, and the visible terror that never tipped into quitting. Even people who hated the show admitted they watched that episode, and they couldn’t look away.
Several viewers said the photo alone made them gag all over again. “I feel like I can feel them crawling on me looking at that photo,” said one. Another was more concise: “Nope.” That word came up a lot.
There’s a confidence to how Sweeney revisits it now. Not bravado or nostalgia gloss. Just a clear-eyed acknowledgment that it was awful and somehow worth it. Much like Sami herself, the memory refuses to settle into one neat category. Fear, fun, regret, pride. All in the same box. Some things don’t need rewriting. They survive exactly as they are.
READ: Get a look at what’s coming up in Salem.
MORE: Find out about Sweeney’s soap opera VHS collection.
