After eating a lot of fast food, some of it on roller coasters, YouTuber Allen Ferrell has been banned by Six Flags from all of its amusement parks nationwide. For life.
McDonald’s chicken nuggets were apparently an ultra-processed food item too far for the folks at Six Flags’ Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.
“This guest has been banned from all Six Flags parks for life,” a Cedar Point spokesman explained in an email Thursday to Cleveland TV station WKYC. “Safety is a cornerstone of our business and we have zero tolerance for inappropriate and unsafe behavior.”
Zero tolerance for inappropriate behavior? Zero? Where’s the fun in that?
“Our ride safety policy strictly prohibits all loose articles on rides, including food which can become a choking hazard,” the spokesperson continued.
“I had no idea that eating a 10-piece chicken nugget on a roller coaster would be a national headline, but here we are,” Ferrell told Fox 8 News in Cleveland.
He said he gets the park’s point with the ban, even though he’s been going there since he was a kid and is a huge fan of the operation.
“I understand. And we kind of worked it out,” he told Fox 8 News. “They just don’t want other people getting hurt on the ride. But me personally, it was a really fun challenge.”
Ferrell’s shtick on social media is accepting challenges from his followers and then taping himself attempting to do what they propose. Eat a McDonald’s Big Mac inside a Burger King. Throw a plunger at a Target sign. Bowl blindfolded until he gets a strike.
“If anyone asks,” Ferrell tells one apparently bored ride operator in the video that documented this particular coaster crime, “I do not have chicken nuggets in my underwear.”
Ferrell decided to try the challenge on the park’s Millennium Force ride, a “looming giant amongst a park full of them,” a coaster that was “designed for the purpose of proving bigger is better.” A roller coaster that when it was created in 2000 “demanded an all-new category just to classify its one of a kind nature,” giving rise to the “giga-coaster.” According to Cedar Point, as all of this verbiage is, Millennium Force “shoots riders over hills, past lagoons and through tunnels, all at unthinkable speeds.”
The ride actually tops out at 93 mph, a speed often thought about on freeways in the Los Angeles area when traffic is going 8 mph. It’s quite thinkable to eat fast food in a car in L.A. But it turns out what was really unthinkable was Ferrell getting all 10 nuggets down the hatch before the Six Flags ride was over.
In the video, which had almost 800,000 views on YouTube as of Friday afternoon, he morphs from happy snacking dude to dude moaning in discomfort, struggling to shove nuggets in his mouth while unintentionally applying dipping sauce to his face via G-force.
“Oh, I failed,” Ferrell says, wiping off the face-sauce as the coaster pulls up to the platform and someone in line blurts, “Are those chicken nuggets?”
Turns out he snarfed seven of them, he confesses to the two guys in front of him in the coaster car. Ferrell said later that he was glad to be in the back row because it meant nobody behind him got sauced.
PLUCKED from obscurity and then dropped when fans lose interest, men in reality TV shows often fare worse than their female counterparts.
While women regularly earn a fortune from brand endorsements, the guys can find themselves struggling after they are no longer on our TV screens.
Former Towie star Jake Hall was found dead at a villa in MajorcaCredit: ShutterstockRight from the start of his telly career, Jake was open about being uncomfortable with fameCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
Now the untimely deaths of The Only Way Is Essex cast members Jake Hall and Jordan Wright within a few months of each other has raised fears that ITV is failing in its duty of care for former reality TV stars.
A TV insider told The Sun: “The tragic deaths of Jake and Jordan have raised some serious red flags.
“No one is blaming ITV but there is definitely a pattern which emerges time and time again on all reality shows.
“Measures were put in place a number of years ago but it doesn’t seem to be enough.”
Artist and designer Jake, who joined Towie in 2015, had been living in Spain.
He was found dead in a pool of blood in a villa in Majorca last Wednesday morning after he seemingly crashed through a window.
A police source said witnesses described Jake as “agitated”, possibly from “alcohol and other substances he may have consumed”.
He had a number of struggles in recent years, from losing his fashion brand Prevu to being hit with a restraining order by ex-girlfriend Misse Beqiri, a model and the mother of his eight-year-old daughter River.
Jake had faced struggles from being hit with a restraining order by ex Missé Beqiri to losing his fashion brandCredit: Shutterstock EditorialTragic Jake with his eight-year-old daughter RiverCredit: Instagram
Yet right from the start of his telly career, Jake was open about being uncomfortable with fame.
Shortly after his debut on Towie, Jake said on This Morning: “The privacy part has been quite difficult because everyone knows your life within days of being on the show.”
The former firefighter said: “I had an enjoyable career for six years before I resigned to pursue a life in the limelight of reality TV — a choice that left me hugely unfulfilled, stagnant and lost.
“People think it’s glitz and glamour but the truth is very far from public perception.
“I really struggled.
“When I left I lost a huge part of myself and my sense of purpose.”
Jordan returned to firefighting in 2023 but he struggled to settle and in December moved to Thailand where he was looking forward to a “very exciting year ahead”.
He shared his new life with his 21,500 Instagram followers, but in March was found dead face down in a drainage canal on the island of Phuket.
Jordan Wright, 33 was found dead in a ditch in Thailand in MarchCredit: MTVJordan returned to firefighting in 2023 but he struggled to settle and in December moved to ThailandCredit: instagram
CCTV footage appeared to show Jordan pacing erratically outside a hotel before bolting out of the complex shortly before his body was found.
Unfortunately, the two deaths were not Towie’s first.
In January 2021, Mick Norcross took his own life, aged 57.
The Sugar Hut owner and businessman had joined the show with his son Kirk, who now runs a waste removal business.
Addiction has also taken hold of a number of cast members, including James Argent, who suffered two near-fatal overdoses at home.
Arg’s drug binges cost him his relationship with co-star Lydia Bright, his job on Towie and other high- profile TV work.
Last year he was in trouble after pushing his former Miss Sweden partner Nicoline Artursson down some steps on holiday in Spain.
He admitted an offence of gender violence and was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
CCTV footage appeared to show Jordan pacing erratically outside a hotelCredit: Asia Pacific Press via ViralPressJordan was found dead in a drainage canal on the island of PhuketCredit: Asia Pacific Press via ViralPress
Jake and Jordan’s deaths sent shockwaves through fans of Towie and its stars.
Charlie King, who was on the show in 2012 and 2013, has faced his own demons since he left the programme but believes his fellow cast members must “take responsibility”.
He told The Sun: “Reality stars in general are seeking something — whether it’s fame, attention or validation.
“It’s a two-way street — stars want to appear on the shows for that lifestyle and experience, and shows need the participants.
“I can’t say Towie gave me the best support when I finished on the show.
“I remember feeling lost and redundant, trying to navigate a life post the show and still having eyes on me.
“It was hard.
“I missed the show deeply and all that came with it.
“I think access to a counsellor or therapy in those first months or years after appearing is always a good idea.
“But I also don’t think it’s fair to point the finger at these shows for how individuals live their lives after — we have to take responsibility.”
James Lock battled body dysmorphia and says he has spent around £100k on getting work doneCredit: InstagramFollowing his stint on Towie, Charlie King was diagnosed with body dysmorphiaCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
Charlie added that producers offer much better support for their on-screen talent these days and that ITV “isn’t afraid to pull out cast members if they think it’s getting too much or they need a breather, which is great to see”.
Following his stint on Towie, Charlie was diagnosed with body dysmorphia and had a botched nose job.
Other lads from the show have also gone under the knife in a quest for perfection.
Bobby Norris is now almost unrecognisable after having a full deep plane facelift, neck lift and lower eyelid surgery.
James Lock has also battled body dysmorphia and says he has spent around £100,000 on getting work done.
On rival ITV show Love Island, telly bosses brought in a revised set of welfare measures in 2021, including “comprehensive” psychological support, after former stars Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis took their own lives.
Their relatives blamed a lack of support from the show for contributing to their mental anguish.
Love Islanders are offered a minimum of eight therapy sessions when they return home.
They also get advice on coping with their finances.
Bobby Norris is now almost unrecognisable compared to when he was on the showCredit: Shutterstock EditorialBobby has had a full deep plane facelift, neck lift and lower eyelid surgeryCredit: Andrew Styczynski
But unlike Love Island, Towie cast members often appear on the show for years at a time.
A number of its former stars, including Yazmin Oukhellou and Tommy Mallet, have praised the support they have received while on the show — but what happens when the cameras stop rolling?
A telly insider revealed: “When women finish on a reality show, brand deals, an influencing career and other avenues are open to them — but it’s very different for men.
“They can get club PAs but that involves late nights and lots of booze.
“Some people like Jake or Tommy launch a career in fashion, but many struggle to achieve the dizzy heights they once enjoyed.”
Women, meanwhile, have made millions off the back of Towie, thanks to very successful business models.
Former glamour model Sam Faiers owns global collagen brand Revive and is worth £9million, and Gemma Collins is now a huge TV star with £7million in the bank.
Lucy Mecklenburgh — famed for throwing drinks on cheating Mario Falcone — now owns a thriving fitness brand and shows off her happy life on social media.
But there have also been a number of male Towie successes too.
Lucy Mecklenburgh now owns a thriving fitness brand and shows off her happy life on social mediaCredit: GettyGemma Collins is now a huge TV star with £7million in the bankCredit: Getty
These days he is worth at least £10millon thanks to a lucrative reality TV career, savvy personal branding and business ventures.
Another success story is Tommy Mallet, who launched luxury footwear and apparel brand Mallet London and more recently Ctrne trainers.
Tommy, Joey and Mark are living up to Towie’s theme tune The Only Way Is Up — and fans will hope there will be more men from the show who enjoy similar success.