After trudging up the stairs, I found myself back in the bathroom revisiting the familiar notion of wiping slop of my body into the bottom of a shower. The red gunk swirled its way through the plug. I didn't bother with any shampoo and body wash, as I knew from last time I'd be there many trips to the shower today. But perhaps not as many as last time there wasn't Jack to share the burden with.

The main difference from last time is I felt much more competitive to win a game. I conceded last time that I'd be getting messy after each game before, but Jack got away scot-free this time, and I was determined to do the same next time.

I grabbed the top towel Steve left out for me and patted myself dry before reaching for the next clothes package. It was a heavy and thick package which was quite unlike what I'd picked up on the last visit. I pulled back the sticky plastic and pulled out a pair of black pair of gym shorts and a jumper. I immediately guessed it was a Christmas jumper and was curious about what Steve would've picked for me. It ended up being a knitted reindeer against a red jumper, which was perhaps tamer than I was expecting.

I popped the jumper and shorts on and made sure my hair was looking good, even if it was a bit damp. I then walked down the stairs, avoiding the splodges of gloop I'd left on the floor on the way up, which in hindsight, was a bit pointless as I was most likely going to get messy again.

By the time I reached the basement again, Jack was already there wearing something very similar. He, too, was in gym shorts but was wearing a blue jumper with a snowman on it. "Nice look," he said.

"Well, I think red is my colour based on the last game!" Steve had set up the large paddling pool in the middle of the room in front of the tank with two stools positioned opposite each other. To the right, there was a small plastic Christmas tree with some wrapped presents at the bottom of it. "This all looks very intriguing, Steve. Where would you like me?"

"Let's have Hudson on the right facing the camera and Jack on the left."

"You feeling nervous yet?" I asked Jack as I took my seat.

"I was already feeling nervous at the start of the last game, but that disappeared once you won that vote. Now, that feeling has returned," he said with a strained smile.

"Well, you've done all of this before so I'm sure you will be fine."

Steve checked in with us that we were good to go and then hit the play button. "So, after the first round, Jack is in the lead with one point. Hudson, how was your first shower?"

"Warm, thankfully," I replied. "It's quite satisfying cleansing yourself of all the mess that gets inflicted down here. But I don't fancy another trip to the shower just yet."

"You'll be getting one if I have anything to do with it!" Jack bantered.

"And what do you both think of your new outfits?" Steve asked.

"It's quite modest for 'Gunk the Hunk', isn't it? Although I do like my snowman," Jack said.

"Are you going to name it?"

"Frosty is a bit of a boring name isn't it for a snowman." Jack paused for a second. "What about Cooliobecause he's cool like the cold?"

"That's a terrible name!" I laughed, gently ribbing him.

Jack smiled back. "Alright then, what are you going to call your reindeer?"

"I reckon Honky because you want just honk his nose" as I pointed to the reindeer's large red nose.

"I think this is the first time we've ever had animals named on this show," Steve added. "But let's get underway with Round 2. This game is called Underneath The Tree. As you can see, at the bottom of our beautiful Christmas tree, there are eight presents. They're all of varying different shapes and sizes. Some are nice and some are naughty. What I can tell you is any present you pick, you will get to keep it. But if it's naughty, you get to keep it by wearing it."

"Oh no," Jack muttered.

"This is tense, man," I said.

"In total, there's four nice presents and four naughty presents. You will both get to choose your own presents, but the first gift you touch is the one you must go for."

"Ah, so we can even rattle them about?" I exclaimed.

"Nope, that would be too easy. And try not to knock them about too much anyway. You get one point for each nice present you find, so Hudson, there's plenty of chances for you to catch up." I pumped my fist in the air. "And, as you're currently trailing, I'll let you go first."

"Uh oh, here goes nothing," I said, standing up and walking towards the tree. "I'm intrigued by this pink, shiny box round the corner here." It was big and wasn't particularly heavy. "Where shall I open it?" I said to Steve.

"If you take it back to your seat and open it there, please."

"Good luck mate," Jack said as I sat down. "Although, not too much good luck, I'd rather you pick a nasty one."

I started to peel the wrapping off the box, which was just plain white but had a lid. "Oh no, what's under the lid?" I said.

"Don't worry, they all come in a box like that. I just like to drag out the suspense a bit longer."

"Urgh, it's killing me," I joked. I whipped the lid off and pulled out a tin. "I think I'm already getting gunged guys."

Jack laughed. "Haha, what's in it?!"

"Baked Beans," I said, looking at the label.

"Oh, I'm glad I've not got those."

"Would you like to pour it onto his head?" Steve asked.

"Yes please," Jack replied in a teasingly overkeen voice. I handed him the tin and he peeled the lid open. "I'm sorry mate, but then again, I'm not because I'd rather it's you getting this than me."

And with that, I felt the first drops of bean juice hit my head and run down the edge of my face. I could then smell the beans as they hit my head and jumped down my body. They splattered everywhere, and I did my best not to squirm too much. "I hate beans!" I groaned. Jack shook the contents of the tin above my head before placing the tin down.

"How did that feel?" asked Steve.

"Not my favourite. Not my favourite one bit!"

"Well, you could be getting revenge soon. Jack, it's your turn to pick!"

Jack got up and picked a slightly larger, gold box. "I'm worried that because it's larger, it's going to be messier and bigger."

"That's certainly what I'm counting on!" I said. Jack opened the wrapping paper faster than I did and ripped the lid off as fast as he could. As soon as he saw what was inside, his face sank. I couldn't help but cheer. "What did you get?!"

He took out a large jar of tomato pasta sauce. "This is going to be rough!"

I stood up straight away. "You needed no prompting, did you? Getting straight into gunking him," Steve said.

"I've already had my fair share of slimings, I think Jack deserves a little taste." I took the bottle and opened the cap. "Any last words, Jack?"

"You sure you want to do this?" he said, knowing full well what the answer was.

"Oh yeah," and with that, I tipped the bottle upside down and the sauce came gushing out. Given how reluctant Jack seemed in wanting to get messy, he threw himself into it, looking up into the falling, smooth tomato sauce. And the smell on that was just as strong as my beans. Once the bottle was empty, Jack's face was painted red and his jumper was saturated in the sauce.

He looked down. "Oh no! Coolio is all red." Steve and I started laughing. "He doesn't look very snowman-like now. More like a red devil." It was quite amusing to see someone's white teeth shine through a bright red face.

Jack wiped his eyes clean of muck. "Your first taste of mess today, Jack. How was it?" Steve asked.

"Messy."

It was my turn to pick next, and I went for a light blue package that was tucked away towards the back. "I'm feeling good about this one," I said, as I began to peel back the wrapping paper. However, once I peeled the lid of the box, there was just a folded piece of paper. "This is odd," wiping my hands free of baked beans and tomato sauce before picking it up.

"When you unfold it, could you unfold it to the camera?" Steve requested.

"Alright," I said, "it looks like I'm gettingA ONE-WAY TICKET TO THE GUNGE TANK!" Jack instantly burst out laughing. "Noooo! Are you sure there are any nice things under that tree?!"

"There are, I promise!" Steve said. "But for now, please turn around and make your into the tank."

I hobbled out of the paddling pool and headed into the tank. Steve slightly adjusted the camera angles to focus on me once I sat in the tank. "I can't believe I'm in here again so soon!"

"And the game is not even done yet! You still have to pick two more presents," Steve added. "But until then, Hudson, you know the drill by now. It's time toGUNK THE HUNK!"

Steve hit the familiar release button and a wave of green slime cascaded on me. As I looked down, I could see the hood of green slime fall onto my thighs and coat my legs. I looked back up towards the camera and felt the muck slide down my face. Jack was laughing again, having escaped another tanking! After ten seconds, but what felt like longer, the gunge stopped falling. If I thought a tin of beans was bad, this covered me much worse. I now looked like a slimy version of the Hulk. "Why am I the one getting into the tank so much?!"

"I'm not complaining," Jack giggled. Steve took a snap or two and then I hobbled my way back to the paddling pool, flicking some specks of gunge at Jack. "Hey!" he teased.

"Jack, it's your turn to pick a present from under the tree. And remember, there's only one naughty present left."

"Hope I don't get that one," Jack said as he stood up from his stool and picked up a yellow-wrapped gift. "Oooh, it's not too heavy."

"That's what I thought last time and now look at me," I taunted.

He sat back down and began to open the present. As he lifted the lid, he had one eye open in fear of what was inside. However, as he smiled, I knew he found a good gift. "It looks like some candy in there," and he brought out of the box a packet of jelly beans. "There's no twist here, right? I can keep and eat these."

"Yes, finally! Someone found a nice present under the tree! Those are yours to keep and to keep you snacked up throughout today."

"Ah, yes! What a result!"

"And you've got another point, so well done Jack!"

Jack gave a thumbs up as Steve instructed me to pick up my next gift. There were four left, and I knew one of them would make me messy. I was already 2 points behind now and I needed to get something good in order not to fall any further behind.

I went for the red-wrapped box. "I'm looking at something red over there," I said pointing at Jack, "and that was good for me so I'm hoping red will continue to bring me luck."

"You were covered in red gunge earlier," Jack said with a smile on his face.

"Why don't you shut up?!" I said, laughing. I peeled the wrapping off the box, lifted the lid and sighed in relief as I saw a pair of socks in there. "This is nice," I said to Steve.

"What's on them?" Jack said inquisitively.

"They've got little penguins on them. Thanks for that!"

"And you've now got your first point," pointed out Steve.

"That's even better than the socks!" I cheered.

It was Jack's turn again, and it suddenly felt a bit tenser. One of these boxes contained mess and the other two would be safe. If he got the mess now, I'd only be one point behind him. He selected a green box and began to open it. "I'm feeling nervous now," he said. As he opened it, he looked confused. "It's another sheet of paper." I raised my hopes. Surely he can get something as bad as tanking. "Voucher for one gunge swap," he read out.

"Yes," Steve said. "This is my favourite gift. From now until the end of the day, Jack has a voucher for a gunge swap. This means, if he's about to get gunged or pied but doesn't want it, he can trade in the voucher and you'll have to receive it, Hudson."

"WHAT?!" I screamed.

Jack was laughing. "This is brilliant. Never mind socks, you're getting gunked at some point later! And do I get an extra point for this present?"

"Yes, you're now on three," said Steve.

And, once again, it was my turn to pick. There were two boxes left: navy blue and purple. Fifty-fifty chance of getting messy. I stared long and hard at both boxes and then selected the purple one. "Please, please don't be messy." I started to open it gently, but curiosity got the better of me and I started ripping everything into shreds to see through the lid. "Custard. I've got custard."

Jack cheered and then quickly calmed himself down. "Unlucky lad," he said, patronisingly. I had no choice but to laugh as I pulled the carton out from the box and handed it straight to him. "No time wasted here."

"The jokes on you really because I like custard!"

"I sure hope you do." Jack walked behind me hovering the carton above my head and slowly dropped the slop. It drooled over my face and pushed the green slime into the bottom of the pool. "You're looking awful," Jack said as he continued to empty the carton. I leaned back and tried to make the most of it, giving the viewers what they wanted.

Once Jack had finished, I cleared my eyes. I was a mix of green and yellow now across most of my body and a very messy person at that. "Didn't mind that gunging."

Jack picked up his last present, and his last point, and was treated to a shower gel. "I think Hudson could do with this more than me," he teased.

"So at the end of that round," Steve announced once Jack was sat back down, "Hudson has one point and Jack takes the lead with four points. So a bit of catching up to do, Hudson."

"It looks like it," I said.

"And let's not forget Jack still has his gunge swap voucher to use. So let's get you lads cleaned up and onto Round 3." Steve pressed stop on the camera and began taking some promotional photos.

"You're being a good sport, Hudson," Jack said.

"It's all part of the fun, isn't it? I'm just hoping the next round goes my way."