Host and creator Greg Nicotero explains how they fooled contestants into believing they were in an entirely different state. New horror reality series Guts & Gl

Host and creator Greg Nicotero explains how they fooled contestants into believing they were in an entirely different state.

New horror reality series Guts & Glory secretly filmed on *Walking Dead *sets

Host and creator Greg Nicotero explains how they fooled contestants into believing they were in an entirely different state.

By Dalton Ross

Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry. *Survivor* is kind of his thing.

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October 14, 2025 9:45 a.m. ET

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Host and creator Greg Nicotero on 'Guts & Glory'. Credit:

Curtis Bonds Baker/AMC

The contestants on Shudder's first reality competition series, *Guts & Glory,* had no idea what they were getting themselves into. For instance, they weren't told that some of their crew members and fellow contestants would be killed right in front of them along the way. They weren't told they would have to fish through the guts of a giant corpse. And they weren't even told where they were going.

Well… that's not entirely accurate. Contestants were told they were going to the swamps of Alabama, and that's precisely where they *thought* they were during filming. But in perhaps the greatest reality twist of all, that wasn't true. Instead, *Guts & Glory* actually filmed the 6-episode series (which is premiering today) in an entirely different state, and on the same sets and locations of one of the most famous horror franchises of all time.

Series creator and host Greg Nicotero explains to ** how they pulled off the giant ruse. "The contestants landed in Atlanta, we put them in a bus, and we drove them to Alabama," Nicotero says.

Okay, so far, so good. But that's where the misdirection began. "They stayed overnight at a hotel. They came out, they got in a bus with the windows blacked out, and we drove them back to Georgia," says Nicotero, laughing. "And we took them on the back lot of *The Walking Dead* studios."

Juliene and Bradi on 'Guts & Glory'.

Curtis Bonds Baker/AMC

Of course, that set is very familiar to Nicotero, as he worked on the original series for all 11 seasons, directing key episodes and running all the horror makeup and effects. But even with the blacked-out windows, how did the host and his crew keep some of those iconic sets out of eye shot for the contestants who thought they were still in Alabama?

"We just had to take them deep enough that they couldn't see the sound stages," says Nicotero. "And when they got out, they were like, 'Well, the sun's over here!'"

While the famous location did not set off any alarm bells among the cast, it may feel familiar to viewers who are also big *The Walking Dead* fans. "Their camp was literally where the Whisperers camp was," reveals Nicotero of the seasons 9 and** **10 *TWD* baddies. "But they couldn't see the sound stages, so they thought they were in the middle of nowhere."

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And when the cast was brought back to civilization for a big competition, it was to another iconic location. "In episode 2, when they go to the hospital for a challenge, that's the abandoned hospital where we shot *The Walking Dead*," Nicotero reveals. "We shot Emily Kinney's death there [from the "Coda" episode on season 5] and we shot the Whisperers there."

That's not the only past experience Nicotoro had with the creepy building. "I also shot a couple of *Creepshow* episodes there, so I knew that the hospital was abandoned, but we dressed the emergency room to look like it was a real functioning emergency room."

Albeit, a haunted one. "Within 30 seconds, the lights go out, there are screams, horrible sounds from the hallway, blood splashes, the lights come back on, everybody's dead."

Bradi and Julia on 'Guts & Glory'.

Curtis Bonds Baker/AMC

That's just one of the scares in store for the series, which Nicotero describes as a cross between *Survivor* and *The Blair Witch Project*. "These 10 contestants have signed up for a show, and unbeknownst to them, the producers are dropped off into an area inhabited by this evil spirit and chaos ensues."

That means some contestants may be eliminated and others may be, well… *eliminated.* While the show draws inspiration from the reality competition genre, it also feels like a Halloween maze brought to life.

"I wanted to capture the experience of something like Halloween Horror Nights," explains Nicotero of the annual Universal scare-fest. "When you get a chance to go through a maze or a house, it's thrilling, it's fun, it's scary. Sometimes you laugh, sometimes you scream, but it's immersive. And I thought it would be really fun to do something where we had contestants competing sort of in that world. And unbeknownst to them, they're actually competing within the framework of a horror movie."

And also unbeknownst to them, within the world of *The Walking Dead*.

*Check out an exclusive behind-the-scenes video on the making of *Guts & Glory* above.*

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