Presenter Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin has confronted her arachnophobia in a pet shop surrounded by gigantic eight-legged creatures as part of a new RTÉ series.
The show, called 10 Things to Know About… sees Aoibhinn and co-presenters Kathriona Devereux and Jonathan McCrea leave no stone unturned in their quest to find the science behind everything from the brain to robotics.
In the first episode of the six-part series, airing tonight on RTÉ One at 8.30pm, they tackle the science behind fear. For Aoibhinn that means facing her worst nightmare, spiders. Watch the terrifying clip below.
Aoibhinn has had a life-long fear of spiders due to some bad experiences.
“I have been bitten by spiders a few times and I have a really bad allergic reaction to them so I don’t like being around spiders,” she said.
The fear is so bad that on the first day that Aoibhinn is due to film in the pet shop, she cannot face going in.
Later in the episode, we see Aoibhinn visit Maynooth University where psychology lecturer Dr Bryan Roche tells her that, by definition, all fears are “completely rational” but become phobias when they start to impinge on living life as normal.
She undergoes an EEG to see how her brain reacts when she sees a spider and a test to see how far she is willing to push her fear.
Check out how Aoibhinn faces her fears in 10 Things to Know About… Fear, on RTÉ One tonight at 8.30pm.
