John and Alex switch roles
As Alex greets John with the words “One, two, three, four”, John gives a thumbs-up back at Alex, and counts with him. He then correctly responds with the line “I declare thumb war”.
John’s attempt begins with him wearing Alex’s clothes, standing in the middle of a roped-off rectangle on the lawn, which is segmented in half. Inside this arena, there are two poles, each of which has a boxing glove on the end (meant to represent a thumb). Alex then enters the arena wearing John’s Freddie Mercury-based task outfit. Both men are also wearing elbow and knee pads.
Alex reads a task brief which is lying on the ground within his square, which states:
Win the thumb war.
You may not cross the lines of fire.
Last thumb standing wins.
From this moment onwards you may only communicate using Queen song titles.
Alex begins by saying “Don’t stop me now” as they prepare. John then straps Alex’s feet together, followed by his own, and lights a fuse which runs around the perimeter of the arena. Both men grab their respective ‘thumbs’ and, after John cries out “Action this day!”, he blows the whistle to start the war. Both men then hop toward one another, landing blows on their opponent with their ‘thumbs’. Other Queen song titles that gets tossed around during the battle are Fat Bottomed Girls, as Alex attempts to trash talk John, and The Miracle, by John. As John tries to hit Alex from behind, Alex manages to force John into a corner and knock him down. Alex then cries out “We are the champions!”, signifying his win in the war.
In the studio, Greg asks John what percentage of the day he isn’t thinking about Queen, and John responds by pointing out that when you’re wearing a Freddie Mercury jacket, it tends to be on your mind. Alex admits that he didn’t know that many Queen songs, and had looked up a few afterwards. One song he says they could’ve used was Flick of the Wrist, and he then lets John answer which album that song was on. At first, John says it’s from A Night at the Opera, but he then corrects himself, stating that its actually from the album Sheer Heart Attack. Because of his slip-up, Greg jokes that “Someone’s getting kicked out of the Queen fan club”, and John admits that he is actually a member of that fan club.
Greg states that he felt the same level of excitement and enthusiasm for both John’s and Nick’s attempts, so both men are awarded 3 points for their efforts.
(Written by M3 / Andres Sanchez and proofread by Karl Craven)
(Illustrations collected by Jenny R and adjusted by David Fuller)
