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I refuse to call the merged tribe by its name, but it has treemail. Cochran announces that it’s a food thing, and some poor misguided fools (probably the “fans”) are looking forward to it until Malcolm says it will be gross, and Brenda is telling everyone about how there’ll probably be bugs and tarantulas.

Reynold interviews that disgusting food is his “one weakness." Why did this challenge have to be disgusting food - Reynold’s kryptonite - of all things? Eddie is more worried that girls won’t want to kiss him, because what else does he think about? Ever? Cochran is more optimistic, interviewing that a gross food challenge could give him an element of danger. It could even be the shot in the arm his love life needs!

Probst sighting! The castaways arrive at the challenge, where Probst trashes the old immunity idol and reveals the immunity idol necklace. He says the castaways will be eating local delicacies – and even though Filipino cuisine is already famed as one of the worst in the world, they’ll be eating things only the most desperate can think of as food. There will be elimination rounds with the fastest winning, until there are two left.

The first round of six is Andrea, Sherri, Corinne, Eddie, Erik and Malcolm. The first three will be going through to the next round, and they will be eating beetle larvae. The larvae are alive and wriggling. “It’s running off the plate," complains Malcolm. “Is it going to bite me?” asks Eddie. Anyway, Andrea, Malcolm and Eddie finish first and make it through to the next round, and Sherri has to go have a drink of water afterwards. You’d think a fast-food franchisee would have more stomach for this challenge.

The next round of six is Reynold, Brenda, Phillip, Mike, Cochran and Dawn. They’ll be eating the same thing as the other six, and Brenda is looking even less impressed now it’s right in front of her. Dawn has to be told by Probst to wait for the word “go” before she can start eating. Cochran wins easily, followed by Phillip and Mike – who has to struggle to keep it down.

The next round will have all six remaining castaways and again three will move on to the next round. This time they will be eating shipworms, which Probst informs us are not really worms, but part of the clam family. He then confuses the issue by comparing them to termites. Malcolm gives a very weary look, while Phillip puts up some bravado. “And they have bones?” asks Andrea, who probably spent natural history class drawing red hearts on her Trapper Keeper. Anyway, they dig in and Malcolm and Eddie are pretty much tied for first. Cochran just scrapes in at third, leaving Andrea with a “shipworm moustache”.

The next round has the final three, with the two winners going to the final round. And the mystery food is balut – duck embryos. Eddie looks confused at what’s on the plate in front of him. Malcolm says he can see the feathers. Probst says “Go!” and Cochran wins in a walk. He has probably been practicing eating balut back home. He starts to strut, and continues until the challenge is over. Eddie spits his up – because he ate it beak first, he explains later – and he has to find it and eat it, and ends up cramming it in his mouth with two fingers. Unless he’s trying to throw up. Anyway, Malcolm swallows and moves on. And any girl stupid enough to have ideas about kissing Eddie should remember they might as well be kissing that still-born baby duck.

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