The season concluded with a two-hour special where 12 winners returned to compete for a $100,000 grand prize and two Mazda RX-8 sports cars. Memorable and Extreme Stunts
Contestants performed high-stakes maneuvers such as being suspended beneath helicopters, traversing a 350-foot tightrope over a dam, and driving cars into pools. Fear Factor - Season 3
Infamous challenges included eating horse rectum , transferring dead rats by mouth, and consuming "maggoty cheese" . The season concluded with a two-hour special where
Included "All-Female," "All Gross Stunts," and a Christmas-themed episode. 000 grand prize
The intensity of Season 3 stunts led to significant public reaction. NBC was notably sued for $2.5 million by a viewer who claimed that watching a contestant eat rats mixed in a blender caused him to vomit and experience a rise in blood pressure. Despite such controversies, the season maintained high viewership and solidified the show's place in the early 2000s reality TV landscape.
The season pushed boundaries with both physical and "gross-out" challenges.
Season 3 consisted of 27 episodes and two highlight specials. While individual contestants usually competed for a $50,000 grand prize, this season experimented with: