Mythbusters (interview with Kari Byron)

An excerpt from “Interview: The Hot Chick from Mythbusters” from Cable and Broadcast Nudes magazine in 2010:

Since 2004, Discovery Channel's Mythbusters has been debunking myths, urban legends and tropes with the power of science. Kari Byron is the sole female co-host of the show and works with the other members of the “Build Team” Grant Imahara and Tory Belleci. We spoke to Kari about the challenges of production and how she felt about being the center of attention when it comes to nudity.

Cable and Broadcast Nudes: I just wanted to say I'm a huge fan of the show. So what are you working on right now?

Kari Byron: I won't give away too much, but this week we've been shooting a myth about whether a person's clothes can be blown off by a tornado without harming them.

CBN: They didn't put you in tornado **** winds, are they?

KB: [Laughs] Not quite, but I did get into one of those “indoor skydiving” wind tunnels wearing a sundress, and let's just say it didn't go well.

CBN: In recent seasons, Mythbusters has started incorporating ENF or nudity-themed elements, usually involving you, of course. How do you feel about this?

KB: Look, I went to art school in San Francisco. I have no moral problem with nudity, although before the show I'd never really thought about being naked in public. It's hard enough just getting used to being a so-called TV star. I never expected that to happen when I started working as an intern model-maker at M5. And at first the producers resisted following the whole ENF trend. They wanted to keep the show more straightlaced and educational.

CBN: But that changed a few seasons in.

KB: Yeah. Ultimately commercial television is a profit-generating business, right? The adult male audience is a more lucrative demographic than something more family friendly, and it aligns with Discovery's strategy. I hear they're developing a whole slew of naked survival shows.

I often say that presenting science on TV is like hiding the broccoli under cheese sauce. You need to entertain people first!

CBN: Some critics have said you're only on the show for the sex appeal.

KB: In my twenties, I might have been insulted by that, but in my thirties I consider it a complement. They think I'm sexy, then that's awesome! I'm not ashamed of showing my body, even though I never expected that when I started on the show. I asked if any of the guys on the show were going to get naked, but the producers said no one wants to see that. [Laughs]

CBN: What was the first nude myth you did?

KB: The first really “full frontal” episode we did was called Bare Diving. The myth was that when diving into a pool, you make a smaller splash if you're nude. Have you ever noticed that all your body hair, even the tiny, fine hairs – they're called vellus hairs – are all angled downwards, like they evolved to streamline the human body in water? That was the idea behind this myth. If you watch the Olympics, you know that making the smallest possible splash is a really big deal in diving.

So even though I'm no expert diver, I of course had to be the test subject, because we always make ourselves the test subject. We shot it on a Sunday at a San Jose college where they have a big outdoor pool with a 10 meter diving platform. I had a little diving experience, but I'm no expert, so I only used the 3 meter board. The first test was diving with a normal one-piece swimsuit. It was the basic step forward and hop, plant your feet, then dive straight down. And I think I did pretty well on that first dive, positively graceful like a swan, if I do say so myself.

Then it was time for the second test, the naked dive. This was the first time I'd ever been naked on camera, and I was super nervous, especially since there were like a dozen cameras on me. There were cameras on raised platforms opposite the diving board and to the side, an underwater camera guy, a closeup on my feet for some reason, a GoPro attached to the board pointing up, cameras everywhere. When the cameras were all rolling, I quickly peeled off my suit and climbed up the ladder to the diving board. That's when I noticed a bus pull up in the parking lot, and the entire school marching band got off. When I was up on the board, they could see me over the fence, and everyone was giggling and pointing. Even Tory and Grant, who thought this was hilarious. I hurried to quickly make the jump, but the producer told me to wait because one of the cameras had to be re-started. So there I was, waiting stark naked, balancing on a little board, with a stiff cold breeze blowing across my nipples. The marching band was taking pictures on their phones. Then when I finally did dive, well...

CBN: This was the origin of the infamous “Kari flop” gif.

KB: Yeah. Years later, I still see it probably five times a week on Twitter. The funny thing is, a few weeks after we shot it, one of the producers called me into his office. He said, “You should see this shot. The editors aren't sure if we should use it, because maybe it's too embarrassing. What do you think?” It was footage from the high speed camera directly facing the diving board. There I was, doing my naked hop, skip and jump in super slow motion, my pale, white breasts and everything else rippling and twisting, water drops flying off and sparkling in the sunlight. The camera was in close up, panning up my body. It looked soooooo lewd, almost pornographic. Then, just at the edge of the board, my foot slips, and I tumble forward with the most dumbfounded look on my face and do a belly flop into pool.

And you know what? I really could have told them, “No, don't put it in the episode.” But it genuinely made me laugh, so I said yes. And the rest is history.

CBN: It's one of the most iconic clips from the show. And it became one of the most viewed videos on YouTube too.

KB: [Laughs] Yeah, the web team had the bright idea of posting the entire high speed video as a YouTube exclusive. It's shot at 1,000 frames per second, so it's four seconds in real time stretched out to over two minutes, uncut. I think it has over 400 million views, last I checked. Just don't look at the comments.

CBN: After all that, was the myth ever resolved?

KB: Yeah, after that we brought in a champion diver, Nancilea Foster. She's a real sweetheart and was part of Team USA in Beijing a couple of years ago. She was a little embarrassed, but agreed to do the same nude trials, except with a wide variety of dive types and heights. After analyzing video of the resulting splashes, it turned out that naked diving really did reduce visible splashes produced by about 20%.

CBN: And did that result lead to the new Olympic rules that allow full nudity as an acceptable outfit in diving competitions?

KB: Maybe? That seems to be part of a larger trend in sports, but maybe we can take a little credit for that.