Touch the Truck was a British Channel 5 endurance gameshow which aired in March 2001. It was hosted by Dale Winton^[1] and involved a group of 20 contestants holding onto a stationary truck for as long as they could. The last person left touching the truck (a Toyota Land Cruiser Amazon) won it.^[2]

The show was filmed at the Lakeside Shopping Centre in West Thurrock, Essex.

Jerry Middleton, 39, from Winchester, Hampshire, was the winner; he managed to stay awake touching the vehicle for 81 hours, 43 minutes, and 31 seconds. He stated that he was going to sell the vehicle to fund a political party.^[3] Middleton stood in the southwestern London seat of Kingston and Surbiton in 2001 and gained 0.1% of votes.^[4]

Rules

According to the rules of the competition, disqualification would occur when:

• a contestant took a longer break than allotted (ten minutes every two hours, and fifteen minutes every six hours),
• a contestant removed both hands from the truck while not on a break, or
• a contestant fell asleep.^[1]

The format

The format was devised by Glenn Barden and Dave Hills and is owned by Vashca. It has been subsequently licensed to the Philippines, Indonesia, Portugal and Turkey.^[5]

In popular culture

The show played a significant part in the second episode of Diane Morgan's 2020 BBC sitcom Mandy.