Todd Sampson in Gaza.
Camera IconTodd Sampson in Gaza. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Todd Sampson returns with Body Hack season 3

Tanya MacNaughtonEastern Reporter

AWARD-winning documentary maker Todd Sampson has been an explorer since his childhood in Canada.

“I was mountaineering when I was really young and always travelling to see other parts of the world,” Sydneysider Sampson said.

“As someone who loves exploration and trying to understand other people, Body Hack makes total sense as a series for me and in many ways it opens up a door to worlds people may never see.”

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Leaving behind his advertising career six years ago, Sampson was working on TV show Redesign My Brain when he had the idea to explore remote cultures of the world to see what could be learnt from them.

Todd Sampson.
Camera IconTodd Sampson. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

This turned in to Ten’s Body Hack, which begins airing season three on June 25 with Sampson travelling to Gaza.

“Out of everything I’ve shot over the past six years, Gaza is my favourite and it was the hardest,” he said.

“It was the hardest because of the physical risk and the mental toll it takes on you being in Gaza, but I felt it was an important story and a rewarding one to tell.

‘While I was in Iraq for the last series, I thought there was an entire episode we could dedicate to frontline emergency responders and Gaza has a frontline with these protests.

“I’ve had threats since the promo has gone out.

“There is a strange irony in threatening me because a major theme in the series is how hate is formed and how hate is learned.

“The base of hate is often the unknown, ignorance, and the people who are getting offended by the episode haven’t seen it yet.”

Todd Sampson in Gaza.
Camera IconTodd Sampson in Gaza. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

With teargas and bullets shooting by him, Sampson said he was genuinely fearful at the Gaza protests.

“When you believe the story you have to tell is important, it does change the way you look at your risk level,” he said.

“Part of my insurance is to see a psychologist every month, sometimes every two weeks.”

Although he described the show as “the best job in the world”, Sampson said he sometimes regretted putting himself in certain situations including his trip this season to Mexico City.

“I fractured two ribs while doing Lucha Libre wrestling,” he said.

“It was on the first day of filming and then I had to go through two weeks of pain where every day was more painful than the last.

“But like everything else, you just adapt to it and figure out a way to work around it.”

Body Hack screens Tuesday nights on Ten.

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