Man to be swallowed alive by anaconda in new Discovery special

Discovery has found its next extreme stunt: A man will be eaten by a giant anaconda snake.

In Eaten Alive, naturalist and wildlife filmmaker Paul Rosolie will be consumed by an anaconda while in a custom-built snake-proof suit.

Discovery is keeping some of the details quiet for the moment, but has released these two promos, below. We’re told Rosolie covered himself in pig’s blood to make himself appetizing to the snake. Since the “snake-proof suit” has a cord on the top of it, Rosolie is presumably pulled back out the snake’s mouth after being “eaten.” We are also told the snake does not die.

In case you’re skeptical, a Discovery representative assures us that this announcement is not a hoax. Eaten Alive has been filmed and will air Sunday, Dec. 7. One of the major broadcast networks was quietly developing a very similar eaten-by-snake special last year titled Manaconda that never made it to air. Rosolie is the author of the book Mother of God: An Extraordinary Journey into the Uncharted Tributaries of the Western Amazon.

The special comes on the heels of Discovery’s last death-defying stunt — Nik Wallenda drawing 5.8 million viewers Sunday night while taking a tightrope stroll between two Chicago skyscrapers — and comes at a time when cable networks are struggling to find new reality concepts to hook viewers.