Champion enjoying new fame
By Caren M. Penland
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
BEDFORD - Monica Jackson is making the most of her 15 minutes of fame.
Already a winner on the reality TV show Fear Factor, the 25-year-old will appear in the October issue of Playboy.
She will be one of seven women featured from the TV show, according to a magazine spokeswoman.
"I felt weird because I had so much makeup on and I didn't know what to expect," she said. "But the pictures turned out great."
She and her husband, Chris, won the show's couples challenge last year, earning $1 million and a trip to Las Vegas. And that's also how Monica was able to fulfill a dream -- being in the magazine -- that she's had since she was 16.
Monica was photographed lying in a bed with a tarantula crawling across her body, recalling the stunt that helped the couple win the competition.
They declined to say how much the magazine paid.
"Between that and Fear Factor, we've shaved about 15 years off our lives -- in a good way," said Chris Jackson, 28. "We have an architect designing a house for us; we've set up college funds for my kids. I bought a Harley, and she bought a BMW."
They will return to the Fear Factor set to film a reunion episode in mid-July; it will air Nov. 1. Both said the wild stunts they have to perform -- last time's included eating maggots, bile and cockroaches -- will not deter them.
It's enough to make you sick. And rich.