Despite my head and hair being spared from most of the white gunge in the last round, having the rest of my body fully immersed in it meant that this shower took longer than I expected. I kept glancing over to the pile of clothes I'd taken out from the package, with the bright white jockstrap sitting on top.

After about 5 minutes, I managed to get rid of all the slop from my body. I enjoyed the hot water for a few moments before hopping out of the shower. At this point, I was guessing a little bit about the order Steve wanted me to wear these clothes. I popped the jockstrap on first, thinking that's going to be at the bottom. I'd never worn one before, and it felt strange to have the front package contained but my arse completely on show. I put the red lycra shorts on next, and then the gym shorts. Upon closer inspection, it looked like the vest was going to fit quite tightly to my body, and this was the case once I put it on. Finally, I put on the t-shirt with the 'Gunk the Hunk' logo across the chest. It was the most layers I'd ever worn for a game here.

I went down the stairs and into the kitchen. Steve was already there, standing next to the kettle. "I reckon our other friend will be a little longer. He had a lot of gunk to get rid of."

"Yeah, having your whole body in it is different to it just being poured on you," I replied. I sat down at the table and helped myself to some of the sweet treats Steve had left out for us. "How's the rest of the shoots been this year?" I asked. "All gone well for you?"

"Our viewership is going up generally, which is good," Steve said. "I know it's a niche market but we're up against other shows and being part of the healthy competition is nice. Your two shows did really well, as well as a couple of others. A few, not so much. Made a loss on maybe four or five. But profits from the others counteract that."

"Sometimes I forget this is a business and not just throwing mess at young men."

Steve laughed. "I try not to think too much about the finance stuff when I'm shooting. Just focussing on getting good shots and good footage really." He placed a mug in front of me filled with tea. "We tried a few different things this year, and some worked. For example, that wrestling you just did, we did on two other shows this year and they sold quite well."

"You'll have to do a full-on tournament at some point."

"We could! That would be fun." At this point, Jack walked into the kitchen. He was dressed almost identically to me except he was wearing blue lycra shorts. Steve offered him tea as well and he took a seat opposite me. "Please excuse me, but you've both been in my two bathrooms and I really need the toilet," Steve said before leaving the kitchen.

Once we could hear the bathroom door shut, Jack whispered to me "are you also wearing a jockstrap under that?"

"Yeah, first time ever."

Jack leaned back in his seat. "Not my first time, but it's definitely the most amount of skin I'd have shown on this show. I have done a little bit of nude modelling before, but that was for an art show." He then leaned forward again, as if he was sharing a secret. "Do you reckon Steve has ever got messy or done any of these games?"

"I had wondered this," I said quietly. "He must have. I don't think you could do the job and not want to get involved and get messy at all."

"He could be one of those neat freaks," Jack chuckled. "I'm going to aim to give him a messy hug by the end of the day, just you watch." I smiled. I liked Jack. He was very charming without being arrogant. "How are you finding today compared to last time?" he asked.

"I think I'm more relaxed. Last time was such a shock in many ways because it was my first time doing anything like this. I knew what to expect this time, I knew I'd been in briefs or even a jockstrap, and be covered in all types of mess. How about you?"

"I like the fact that you're here. It's more fun pairing off against someone." I appreciated Jack saying this. Sometimes, through these part-time modelling jobs I do, I meet very stuck-up people who don't want to interact and socialise. Jack's the opposite. "And the fact I'm still in the lead helps a lot too!"

We laughed and then heard a door opening down the corridor and the distant sound of a flush. Steve came back into the kitchen, picked up his tea and sat with us. "So boys, two more games. The next one is a bit different to anything either of you has done before, so I hope you don't mind it."

"Any other clues?" I said.

"Well, you both know what each other are wearing I'm guessing. So you can expect that they will be making an appearance. But it's also a mind game this one, one about strategy." I was intrigued. I imagined the sight of two men in jockstraps would sell this show quite well. "I wanted to check that you were both comfortable, no issues or anything." We both shook our heads and had a chat together about much we were enjoying the day, and what our various favourite moments were. Mine was being able to douse Jack in black slime in the last game, whilst his favourite moment was seeing me walk into the tank for the first time in a pair of bright red briefs.

Once our mugs were empty, Steve put them into the sink, promising himself he'd wash them up later and he led us back down into the basement. I was surprised to see that the pool had disappeared and just been replaced by some large plastic sheets, two stools and a lot of custard pies laid out in front of them.

"Where did that pool go? And all the gunge from it?" Jack asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?!" Steve said. "You can just pray that you don't meet it again." He directed us both to take a seat on the stools.

"I don't know about you," I said to Jack, "but I quite liked the custard pies last time I was here."

"Really! I'm not sure, the dairy smell after a while got on my nerves."

"Alright lads," Steve interrupted, "before I press record on this one, I just want to say, it's not the most straightforward game and it can go in many directions so go with it and take it wherever you want. You both good to go?" With a thumbs up from the pair of us, Steve pressed record. "We're onto our fourth round at the 'Gunk the Hunk' Christmas Special," Steve announced into the camera's microphone. "Jack, you've got a 1-point advantage over our friend Hudson here. But that can all change in this next game called 'Play or Pass, Slop or Strip'." There we had itstrip. That's why we were wearing so many layers that went right the way to a jockstrap. "I will give one of you a topic, all related to Christmas. You will then choose if you want to play that question or pass it to your opponent. If the person who answers guesses correctly, they will then have a choiceto either slop their opponent with one of the beautiful custard pies laying before you today, or they could ask them to strip and remove one layer of clothing they have on, going right down to the jockstraps your wearing."

"Wow, this is going to get interesting!" Jack said.

"However, if the person answering guesses wrong, then the opponent will get to choose the person who answered the question. You get a point for every question answered correctly. The game ends when someone has no more layers to take off after their jockstrap, and they will make their way into the tank for a little forfeit."

"So, in theory," I said, "I could just keep pieing Jack and not ask him to strip, but the game would never end because he's not gone to his jockstrap."

"Precisely. You've got to be strategic. And if you don't answer questions, you can't get the all-important points for the final round." I pondered this for a moment. I wanted to at least get level with Jack, and getting some revenge for the two tankings earlier would be great.

After checking we both understood the rules, Steve started the game. "Hudson, as you're trailing behind Jack, you can go first. The first topic is Christmas Language. Do you want to play or pass?"

"I've got to get some points in, so I'm going to play," I said.

"Good man," Steve replied. "Mutlu Noeller is Merry Christmas in which language?"

I forgot just how hard the questions could be in this game show. I also knew that thinking out loud was what Steve wanted to create a good show. "I know No is French, so I'm going to guess it's going to be a country or language near France. It could be German, but also Holland is not far away, it could be Dutch. Mutlu sounds like it could be from Scandinavia or something, Norway perhaps." I sighed. "I'm not sure, so I'm going to say Dutch."

"That's the incorrect answer I'm afraid. It was Turkish."

"Really!" I exclaimed. "Oh well, I was completely off track then."

"So Jack, do you want to slop Hudson or strip him?"

"Well," Jack said, enjoying the moment and stroking a pretend beard, "I want to keep my lead and if he's going to guess everything wrong, the fastest and best way I can do that is by getting him into the gunge tank. So I think I will ask him to strip."

With that choice, I decided to take off my t-shirt and show off the tight black vest underneath. "It's one less thing for you to wash Steve," I said casting the t-shirt aside.

Steve laughed. "Indeed. Alright, Jack, your topic is Christmas Food and Drink. Play or pass."

"Oh, I love eating at Christmas, so I'm definitely playing this one. I'm feeling confident."

"What would you be drinking if you had 'Glwein'?"

"I mean, you said wine at the end of it, so it's going to be a type of wine. And the only special type of wine I can think of around Christmas time is mulled wine. So my final answer is mulled wine." I had a horrible feeling he was going to guess that right.

"You're right! So that brings your points up to 5 while Hudson is still on 3. And now I've got to ask, slop or strip?"

"For now, I'm quite happy sticking to my plan of getting you into the tank as fast as I can. So I will ask you to strip."

"This could be a very short game at this rate," I said, removing the gym shorts and showing off the red lycra shorts. "How do I look?" I asked jokingly.

"Like someone heading towards a gunge tank," Jack said.

The next topic was Christmas Quotes. "That could be so generic," I said. "And I really need points, but I can't afford to get much closer to the tank. So I'll pass this one."

"Jack, this one is for you now," Steve said to Jack who suddenly looked a little nervous. "Who said this quote: 'one can never have enough socks. Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.'"

"I'm going to need a little bit of a clue for that. Is it from a film or something?"

"That is a tricky question, so I'll say it's from a book and film," Steve said. He was being quite generous.

Jack was struggling. Words wouldn't even come to his mouth. "I'll have to guess something like Scrooge out of 'A Christmas Carol'. I have no idea."

"It's actually Dumbledore in the first 'Harry Potter'." I couldn't help but do a small celebration at the fact that Jack had got the question wrong. "So Hudson, slop Jack or strip him?"

"I do know what his gameplan is, and while I would love to make it a level-playing field, I do know that he's not a fan of dairy under his nose for too long." At this remark, Jack opened his mouth wide in shock. "So I think I'll let him enjoy a nice custard pie to the face."

Jack shook his head in disbelief. "Of all the reasons as well!" And then he had a lightbulb moment. "Wait, earlier on, I got that gunge trade card right?" he asked Steve.

"You did."

"Can I use that now? Can I pie Hudson instead?"

"What?!" I shouted.

Steve thought for a moment. "Yes, if you want to cash in that card now, you get to pie Hudson instead."

My head fell into my hands as Jack started laughing almost manically. "You thought you'd get to pie me, but you've basically chosen to pie yourself!"

He stood up and walked to the nearest pie to him, with a custard base and lots of whipped cream on top. "I can't believe this is happening," I said.

"No worries mate, I had to use it now because I'm not going to get gunged again today." And with that, Jack smashed the pie into my face. I felt the cold custard come onto my face and I took a quick lick to get the nice sweet taste. Jack couldn't stop laughing.

"Alright Jack, your next topic is Christmas General Knowledge. Play or pass?"

"As Hudson passed to me on that last round, and this could be about anything, I'll pass to him now." I'd barely got the cream out of my eyes as I heard this. Now, I was once again doing my best to try and avoid getting stripped or pied again.

"Hudson, what was the name of the 2012 animated film sequel to 'The Snowman'?"

My mind went blank. "I never even knew they made a sequel." I saw Jack's face light up at this. "Let me just think for a second. How could you do a sequel to 'The Snowman'? Maybe there was a second snowmana snow lady perhaps? No, a snow child. This is a guess, but it feels like it could be rightis it 'The Snowman's Child'?"

I held my breath. Steve checked his notes. "Completely wrong." I deflated. "It was 'The Snowman and the Snowdog'."

"Would never have guessed that in a million years," I said.

"So Jack, are we pieing him again or stripping him?"

"I feel like I've got a comfortable lead on this game now. So why not? Let's pie him again!" He stood up and grabbed another pie that had been laid out in front of him. "This cream is going to make you look like a snowman," he said as he gently pushed the pie into my face and then pulled the paper plate up so the cream went into my hair. "A beautiful little snowman," Jack said. As much as I had grown to like Jack, I desperately wanted to bring him down a peg or two.

"Hudson, your next topic: Christmas Films."

"I'm going to play this one. I need to start getting some points."

"Alrighty, which green Dr Seuss character 'stole Christmas', according to the 2000 Jim Carrey film?"

"Finally!" I shouted. "A question I know the answer to! It's the Grinch."

"You're correct!" Steve shouted. Jack's face turned to one that had stolen Christmas and looked a little moodier all of a sudden. "It's now 5 4 to Jack. Hudson, slop or strip?"

"Well, I've taken off my t-shirt and shorts, so I think Jack could remove one of those himself now." Surprisingly, to me at least, Jack opted to remove the gym shorts first, and I noticed a bulge popping out of the blue lycra shorts he was wearing. I then noticed Jack's eyes watching me and we made eye contact, before instinctively giving each other a nervous smile.

Jack's next topic was Christmas Songs, which he reluctantly played. "The lyrics 'here we are as in olden days, golden days of yore' is found in which Christmas song?" Steve asked.

Jack started to sing the lyrics, although none of them resembled a familiar tune. "I recognise the lyrics, but I can't think of the song. It's always on at Christmas." After a moment of thought, he sheepishly said "'White Christmas'?"

"It's 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas'. So no point there. And this means Hudson has another choice to make."

"Time to get even stevens, one more strip please." Jack took his t-shirt off, and now we were back to where we were at the start: both wearing the same amount of clothes and the same points difference.

My next topic was 'Christmas Around the World', which I passed on as the language question didn't help me much last time. "Jack, what is the name of the container, mostly associated with Mexico and made of paper-mhé or cloth, which children then break to release the gifts?"

"Is that a pita?"

"Completely correct," Steve said, and unsurprisingly, Jack opted for me to remove a layer. Wanting to keep the jockstrap reveal until last, I took the creamy vest off and showed off my abs, which caught Jack's attention.

Jack turned down a question on Christmas Art or Literature, which I was nervous about because it wasn't my strong suit either. "Hudson, in which year was Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' first published? I shall accept three years each way."

"Oh no," I said. I needed to get this right otherwise Jack would show me off in a jockstrap to everyone and I would be one wrong answer away from the tank. "It was the 1800s, and I think later in the 1800s. Maybe the 1880s, possibly the 1870s. I'll go for 1882."

"Quite far off I'm afraid, 1843." My heart sank. This quiz and this game weren't going well for me. "Jack, is it slop or strip?"

"I think it would be a shame to waste all these custard pies, so let's get another one used." I was shocked. I was fully expecting to get showing off my butt to the camera, but instead, I was just getting a custard pie, which I didn't mind.

"Bring it on!" I said. I even opened my mouth and closed my eyes, but surprisingly, I felt the custard pie hit me on my chest, and when I opened them, I saw Jack massaging the plate all over my chest. "It looks so shiny now!" I said as the streaks of custard and cream together.

"We're back to you Hudson for the next play or pass," Steve said. "It's Christmas Food or Drink again."

"I still need those points, so I'm going to play."

"What is a female turkey called?" Steve asked.

I paused. I went through all the farm animals I could think of. "I'm going to guess hen?" I said, with not much confidence.

"You're absolutely right, it's a hen! 6 5." At my request, Jack proceeded to take off his vest. I was annoyed that he was still completely clean, but I didn't want to face another trip to the tank yet. But now, if either of us mess up, we would be going down to the jockstrap.

"Jack, it's Christmas General Knowledge again," Steve said. "Are you playing or passing?"

"Pass, thank you."

It was another question for me then. "What is the name of the traditional Italian Christmas cake?"

My eyes lit up. "I had this for the first time last year I think. And I'm pretty sure it's from Italy. Panettone?"

Steve paused, not giving away anything. "is the correct answer!" I cheered. "Hudson, you've managed to level with Jack and now you can choose whether to pie him or strip him and send him only one step away from the gunge tank."

I looked at Jack, who had a cheeky grin on his face. I then saw the custard pies on the floor. "As much as I want to send Jack into the gunge tank, and I really do, I'd be more annoyed if I'd been pied three times and Jack got away completely free. So I'm going to slop him this time."

Finally, I could stand up and pick up one of the pies, and I chose the one that looked the fullest. I walked over to Jack who was smiling in anticipation. I shoved the pie in his face nice and strongly and watched as the cream sprayed out onto his pecs. As I removed the plate, a large splodge fell right onto his bulge, and we both looked. "Ignore that, it just happens when I'm excited," he said. All three of us laughed.

"Hudson, your next topic is Christmas Carols. Play or pass?"

"I'd love to get that lead, so play."

"The lyrics 'cast out our sin and enter in' is from which carol?"

"That sounds a bit dark, all about sin. But ultimately, I have no idea. I'll say 'Joy to the World'. It's the opposite of sin."

"It's actually 'O Little Town of Bethlehem', so Jack gets to make the next Slop or Strip decision."

Jack looked over at me. "I'm sorry mate, but you know what time it is? It's jockstrap time."

I had resigned myself to this fate the moment the question was asked. "Well, might as well give you a show." I stood up, turned around and slowly removed the lycra shorts, getting all my arse captured on camera. Jack started applauding and I started laughing, realising how ridiculous this all could look. Once off, I sat back down, with just some white bands and a pouch protecting my dignity.

"Ok Jack, the next topic is pantomimes. You playing or passing?"

Jack thought about this for a moment. "I don't know if you can handle the pressure, Hudson. So if you can, I'll happily strip to my jock for one last question. But if you get this wrong, you know you're heading straight in there," he said, pointing at the gunge tank. "So that's a pass for me."

I gulped. "Ok, Hudson, here's the question. Which pantomime was also the name of a character voiced by Antonio Banderas in the 'Shrek' films?"

Jack groaned. "I know this one!" he said.

"I know it too," I replied. "That would be 'Puss in Boots'. Although, I never knew that was a pantomime."

"Yes, you know you're right. So Hudson, another pie for Jack or are we all about to be a bit more nude in here?"

"I think he already promised what would happen if I was right. Show us your jockstrap, mate."

Without hesitation, Jack stood up and quickly removed the slightly creamy shorts and flung them in my direction. I took a look at his jockstrap, black instead of my white ones, but he looked really good in them, and I suddenly felt a little self-conscious.

"That means Hudson now leads 7 6, with potentially only one question left. The next topic is snow. Hudson, do you want to play or pass?"

I thought hard about it. If I played and lost, I would only have myself to blame. If I got the question right, I'd extend my lead over Jack. But snow is such a weird topic. "I'm going to pass and hope Jack knows nothing about snow."

Jack breathed heavily. "Let's do this!" he said.

Steve read his question: "how many 'sides' or 'points' does a snowflake have?"

Jack looked around in disbelief. "No clue. I think it's going to be either 8 or 12. Or somewhere in the middle, 10. 10, I'll say 10, final answer."

My heart was beating fast. This would be the overtake of all overtakes if he got this wrong and I went into the final round with the advantage. "The correct answer is" Steve teased, "6!" I couldn't believe it. I'd won a second game! And overtook Jack. He was crying out "no!" but I was too happy to hear.

"My friend, just for clarity, jump into the tank for me. I've been looking forward to doing this all day!" I said.

With that, Jack reluctantly got up and turned around to go into the gunge tank, showing off his bum to everyone and giving me a wink as he went by. "I hope you're all happy about this."

"Oh, I am. Incredibly happy," I said. "You did quite good, to be honest. Only one pie so far."

Jack took his seat in the tank and opened his legs out wide. "I'm ready when you are."

I picked up the release button from Steve. "This is going to be my highlight of the day. And I get to say these words. It's time toGUNK THE HUNK!"

I pressed the button with much delight and watched the top of the tank open and dump pink gunge all over Jack's body. He kept his face looking forward and the thick slime flowed over his face, leaving it stained pink. Within moments, it looked like he was wearing a vest made out of pink slime, and soon enough, you couldn't see any of the jockstrap anymore. I began laughing as the relief of not getting gunged finally dawned on me.

The gunge kept pouring for about 25 seconds, by which time Jack was barely recognisable. I felt so relieved that I managed to dodge at least one tanking today, and Jack looked really good in all the pink gunge. There was no trace of the pie I'd administered to him a few minutes ago, as his face was a slimy pink mess that he had started to wipe off. "How was that?" Steve asked.

"I forgot how it feels getting bombed with litres and litres of gunge," Jack said smiling. "It was warm as well, unlike the last one. Not bad at all."

"And Hudson, that was your first time tanking someone? How did you find it?"

"I'm so glad to be outside of the tank for once," I said. "I wish I didn't have pie on my face to be there, but there we are."

"So boys, it's another shower for the pair of you. When you come back, we will be playing our final round, and Hudson, you will have the advantage."

Steve stopped recording and took a few promotional photos, including one where we both turned away and he could get the back of our jockstraps. I tried to get rid of as much pie as I could down in the basement whilst Jack tried to free himself of some of the gunge. "Watch this," he said very quietly to me. He quickly went over to Steve, who was beginning to unpack something and gave him a big hug from behind. "GOTCHA!" Jack shouted.

Steve started laughing and groaning. "These are my nicest clothes," he said sarcastically.

"Well, I promised Hudson I'd get you a bit messy by the end of the day, and as the only person in the room that hasn't been gunged today, it only seemed right."