Bethany Hamilton and Alana Blanchard are certified social media influencers, these days, with 2.6 million and 1.5 million followers on Instagram, respectively.
Which makes them some of the most famous surfers in the world, by today’s standards. (For reference: the current world champ, Molly Picklumis carrying a noble, yet trivial by comparison, 109,000 followers.) One’s feed is filled with faith-based mommy vlogging; the other’s features skimpy bathing suits and occasional surfing. Take a guess which is which.
Those millions of eyeballs make Alana and Bethany prime targets for a staple of social media influencer-ism: paid partnerships. Their latest? The longtime friends got together to promote the newest iteration of Fear Factorby putting venomous Vietnamese centipedes on their bodies, and seeing how long each could endure the creep crawlies.
The girls, as imagined, don’t last long with the centipedes. The creatures, known as a species by scolopendra subspinipescan reach a length near eight inches, can be found across Asia and Australia and South America, and contain venom resulting in severe pain.
As for Fear Factorthe show originally appeared in 2001 with host Joe Rogan. It featured stunts and insect interactions, with contestants competing for a grand prize of $50k. Now, it’s being revived with Johnny Knoxville of Jackass fame as host; Fear Factor: House of Fear premiered on January 11th, 2026 on Fox.
Related: “I Did Not Kill the Shark”: Bethany Hamilton Denies Shark Attack Rumors (Video)
Bethany and Alana have a long history together, with both growing up surfing on Kauai. In fact, Alana was in the water on Halloween, 2003, when both girls were 13 years old, and Bethany was infamously attacked by a 14-foot tiger shark, losing her left arm for good.
Now, the girls have forged their own disparate, yet similar paths, through surfing – with both turning to social media as their primary platform for exposure. In a 2024 interview with SURFERAlana talked about paid partnerships, and how much she earned from them:
“If you’re doing a one-off post, it can be anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000…it’s kind of hard to say,” Blanchard said.
Nice payday from the fine folks at Fox.
Related: Alana Blanchard Talks New Reality TV Gig
