A TV celebrity has disclosed a genuinely disturbing stomach wound, which he claims is ‘too gruesome’ to broadcast on his show.
Todd Sampson is an Australian documentary filmmaker and television presenter best known for his work on the series Gruen, The Project, and Body Hack.
He’s also working on the third season of Mirror, Mirror, which previously dealt with body image issues.
This time, he’s investigating the worldwide multibillion-dollar health sector, putting his own body at risk and experimenting with therapies like cupping, quiet meditation retreats, acupuncture, and detoxifying.
He is, however, now seen with a stomach-churning wound from setting leeches loose on his body.
Todd, 52, uploaded a video of a bruised and bleeding open cut on his stomach this week.
‘WARNING. This was a little too graphic for 7:30 time slot. Here’s what happened after one treatment Mirror Mirror on WELLNESS starts tomorrow on Channel 10,’ he captioned the video.
Todd took down the cloth on his stomach in the video, revealing that the wound created by the leech treatment was covered with blood and had not yet healed.
‘Well, it’s the next morning. I want to change my wound and see what those leeches have done to me…here we go,’ he said as blood dripped from the wound.
‘Oh gross, oh boy. That does not look good!’
Unsurprisingly, many individuals were shocked and disgusted by what they witnessed.
‘Dude. You do not HAVE to do this!’ former The Project host Charlie Pickering commented.
‘Me: “ohhh Todd Samson is sexy naked”. Me, 10 seconds later: “no”,’ someone else wrote.
Another added: ‘Ooww, I certainly appreciate your dedication Todd, but damn!’
Todd has already been shackled underwater, subjected to a voodoo initiation, and had eye surgery for his documentaries.
His next two-part series, which premieres this week, will dive into popular and unusual health practises, including ones that may appear excessive to viewers, such as leech therapy.
Admitting he has been a ‘wellness addict’ at many stages of his life, Todd has said he’s ‘done a lot of these treatments before’.
However, after becoming doubtful of the advantages and uneasy with the emergence of wellness influencers, he became concerned that consumers were turning to untrained health consultants rather than doctors.
‘What I find frustrating is the lack of trust in science, the anti-medical approach that people are taking,’ he told The Sydney Morning Herald.
In this series, he travelled to the United States to chat with Gwyneth Paltrow at Goop HQ, and when attempts to interview Miranda Kerr were turned down, he resorted to her leech therapist in Florida for a ‘leech facial’ using his own drained blood.
Mirror Mirror: Are You Well? will air on Channel 10 in Australia.
