A mainland Chinese variety show called “Charge Forward with Joy,” centered around water obstacle courses, has recently come under scrutiny due to a series of injuries sustained by contestants, with some even suffering severe fractures. A controversial clause in the participant agreement stating that the show’s production team is not liable for injuries has sparked heated discussion.
On May 26th, social media users reported that multiple participants had fallen and gotten injured while attempting the obstacle course on the “Charge Forward with Joy” show track in Jinxiang. One injured girl, streaming live on a video platform, recounted her injury, saying she fell during the course and ended up fracturing her leg.
“Charge Forward with Joy,” a water obstacle course program aired on Shandong TV’s variety channel, has been on air since 2009. This year, the obstacles in the Jinxiang track have been increased from 4 to 5, featuring challenges such as a crazy treadmill, rolling blocks, water balance beam, garlic-gripping challenge, and slam-dunk challenge.
According to reports from “Orange Interactive,” during the episode on May 25th, a young man ran against the flow on the treadmill, cleared the first obstacle, and fell into the water while stepping onto the rolling blocks. “I felt the water was shallow, and there was something uneven under the water. At that moment, I didn’t feel it, my foot twisted, and I had to force myself to walk. When I got on shore, I couldn’t walk anymore; my foot had no strength left. In the end, I hopped onto the ambulance with one foot.” After the injured individual was taken to the ambulance, another person with a fractured bone was also transported.
In photos that were shared, the injured foot of one participant can be seen severely deformed after being wrapped in bandages. Although the show’s team initially stated that they would cover related medical expenses, the injured parties questioned a “dictatorial clause” in the agreement they signed, which explicitly states that participants must understand the competitive nature of such variety programs and that apart from losses covered by the insurance company, the show’s producers are not responsible for any losses already incurred or potentially incurred by the participants.
According to the person in charge of the filming location, the insurance company has already intervened. However, he believes that the safety of the race course should be the responsibility of the show’s production team, as the scenic area merely provides the venue. The emergence of the alleged “dictatorial clause,” and reports of mistreatment of the injured parties when contacting the insurance company for compensation, have sparked widespread discussion and sent the topic skyrocketing on social media searches.