Touch the Truck

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Touch the Truck was a channel 5 endurance gameshow which aired in 2001.

It was hosted by Dale Winton^[1] involved a group of 20 contestants holding onto a truck with the last person left touching the truck winning it.

The show was filmed at the Lakeside Shopping Centre in Thurrock Essex.

Jerry Middleton, 39, from Winchester, Hampshire was the eventual winner who managed to stay awake touching the vehicle for 81 hours 43 minutes and 31 seconds. He stated that he was going to sell the vehicle to fund a political party.^[2]

Middleton stood at the 2001 General Election in the Kingston and Surbiton constituency, but only managed to gain 54 votes from a turnout of 49,093.^[3]

The competition caused some contestants to hallucinate through sleep deprivation with one contestant believing that the vehicle had turned into an ocean liner.

1 Rules
2 Similar events
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Rules

According to the rules ^[4] of the competition contestants could be disqualified if:

They overrun their breaks which were 10 minutes every two hours and 15 minutes every 6 hours
They removed their hand from the truck
They fell asleep

Contestants could also be drug tested to ensure fairness.

[edit] Similar events

Such competitions have occurred as a way of raising money for charity. In 2007, Bristol University did a similar competition as part of charitable RAG week (Raise and Give) where the winner gained an old BMW.^[5]