'Lonely Planet' Host Ian Wright Licks Europe's Dirtiest Surfaces for Science in Travel Show
Not for the squeamish.
Germaphobes, stop reading here. Seasoned traveller and Lonely Planet show host Ian Wright has built up a significant tolerance over the years, having gotten himself into no shortage of tight spots traversing the world. However, Finnish probiotics brand Gefilus presented him with his greatest challenge yet.
In a bid to show the effectiveness of its probiotic dairy drink in strengthening your gut, Wright was enlisted by dairy conglomerate Valio to travel to several cities across Europe licking the dirtiest surfaces he could find. Using a germ-measuring meter to diagnose the dirtiness of each surface, these ranged variously from a toilet flush button on a Finnish train and putrid river water flowing through a Swedish town, to the coup de grace — the toilet handle of a public bathroom in Moscow, which even Wright had to refuse. However, the dirtiest surface of them all, as Wright would discover at the end of the trip, would be almost too close for comfort. Watch the unique travel episode above.
