Before Steve-O was famous for his antics on "Jackass," the government was testing drugs on him to determine what was safe for humans, he revealed in a new interview.
"I was having the government test drugs on me for money," he told TooFab. "The more dangerous the medical study, the more they're gonna pay you, so I wanted to do the most dangerous one I could possibly get into so I could get the most money."
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He revealed that he once let scientists administer a drug that was meant for cattle.
"They wanted to give it to cattle so that the meat would have less fat and more muscle to appeal to health-conscious consumers," he said. "Because that was the goal, if anybody ate the meat, they would have a trace amount of the drug in the human body. And if something enters the human body they have to test it, and in this case they had to see how much humans could withstand."
Steve-O said he made $2,000 in 12 days for that study.
"There were only six people in the study because it was so dangerous," he said.
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Of course, Steve-O knows all about danger — he's broken bones and done things to his body over the years that have made people cringe, but he's now upping the ante and preparing to embark on his most dangerous stunt yet.
What is the stunt? He calls it the "The General Anesthesia Olympics."
"I'm gonna try to perform Olympic sports like pole vaulting, hurdles, bicycle racing," Steve-O told TooFab. "I'll only have like 10 to 15 seconds before the lights are out. Once the general anesthesia drug is administered, then I start pedaling."
The stunt, which is part of his upcoming comedy special called "The Bucket List," is so dangerous that he said "each and every person" who works with him has requested a form releasing them from any responsibility should something happen to him during the act.
"It's high-level stuff," he said.
