Nickelodeon’s iconic kids’ game show Double Dare premiered on October 6, 1986. And now that it’s turning 40, former host Marc Summers is opening up about the best (or worst, depending on how you look at it) part of the show—getting slimed.
Summers recently spoke with People, sharing some background on how the whole sliming the host thing happened. “For the 65 episodes, I never got a bit of anything on me, especially slime or whipped cream.”
Eventually Summers would learn that he had obsessive-compulsive disorder, also known as OCD. But in the mid-80s, when he started on the show, he didn’t realize his aversion to slime was actually a more serious issue. “I had not been officially diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder; I just knew I didn’t like getting messy,” said Summers, adding, “So I was able to dodge it. I wasn’t wearing Reeboks. I was wearing penny loafers, and I kind of did things my own way.”
Marc Summers. Photo: Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty ImagesMatt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images
So how did Summers end up getting slimed all the time? He explains, “They did a focus group with kids, and they said, ‘We love the show. The only thing that’s missing is we want to get the host messy.’ So the executives at Nickelodeon called me in and had said, ‘Everything’s going great. The kids love you. The network loves you. The ratings are great. One thing we need to change, you got to wear Reeboks ‘cause they’re our sponsor and you should have them, and, secondly, you got to get messy.’” And that’s exactly what he did.
Even though he didn’t love the mess, he did love his job. While he still didn’t have a formal diagnosis, he did have the symptoms of OCD during his Double Dare days. But that didn’t stop Summers from going all in. The host revealed to People that he “never let OCD affect my life when I was performing.”
He also didn’t let OCD interfere with having fun on the show. “People say, ‘Oh, I was miserable.’ No, I wasn’t. I defy you to look at any of those episodes where I was clobbered with some goo and see that I was in pain. I was not in pain. When the camera went off, I could go back to being my natural self, but while the camera was rolling, I was having the best time of my life.”
And if you’re wondering how Summers dealt with the sticky, gooey, slimy mess, he had a simple solution: A shower in his dressing room!
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