WATCH: This ‘Survivor 42’ Castaway Has an Embarrassing Cow Story

Survivor 42 Omar Zaheer and cow

CBS/Getty "Survivor 42" contestant Omar Zaheer/A cow grazing fields in Northern Florida.

With season 42 of “Survivor” on the horizon, fans are anxiously anticipating the release of the March 9 premiere. Ever since the release of the season’s cast photos and videos, fans have been examining what each of the 18 castaways have to say about their strategy and chance in the game.

When asked by EW to recount their most embarrassing stories ever, 31-year-old Canadian contestant Omar Zaheer had a particularly noteworthy story about the time from back when he was training to be a veterinarian, which involved the exploration of a cow’s rectum. Here’s what you need to know:


Omar Stuck His Hand up the ‘Wrong Hole’ in Front of His Whole Class

Omar Zaheer, 31, is a practicing “exotic animal veterinarian” from Whitby, Ontario, Canada, and has made his career and love for animals a big part of his identity. It is no surprise that, when each contestant was asked by EW to disclose their most embarrassing moments in life, Omar recounted a story from when he was in vet school.

In this particular story, Omar had to perform an exam on a cow by sticking his arm up its anus. He got scared that the cow might sit down and break his arm, but the technician leading the exercise told him he could not withdraw. Suddenly, Omar realized something was wrong, and screamed “Oh my God, I’m in the wrong hole!” in front of his entire class.

He recalls the story in the video:

When I was in vet school, [we] had our lab to rectally palpate cows by sticking our arms up their butt to feel for pregnancy. I was so nervous because I was like, ‘Oh my God, this cow could break my arm if it sits down while my hand is in there!’ And I was just like, ‘One, two, three, go!’ And I couldn’t go in, I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ And the technician beside me was like, ‘Keep going, otherwise she’ll learn that if you stop that she can get away with it!’ And then I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m in the wrong hole!’ in front of my whole class.


How Omar Will Use His Veterinary Skills in ‘Survivor’

In his CBS bio, Omar described his proudest achievement as “setting my mind to become an exotic animal specialist from undergrad.” He noted that it’s more difficult to get accepted into veterinary school than medical school in Canada, and that the avian/exotics residency has the lowest admission rate of any specialty, at 3-5%.

He also listed some of his biggest pet peeves as “People who complain about the cost of vet care,” “feeding seeds to parrots,” “the fact that mini wheats have gelatin,” and “when people talk bad about pigeons.”

In his introductory video, Omar said that veterinarians “never know what to expect, because you’re always working with different types of animals, especially within the exotic field.” He said that those in the field can be working on an “18-gram canary” one day, then “could have your arm shoved up a rhino’s butt” the next. “It’s all about not panicking, staying calm, you never know what to expect, and that’s just like Survivor.”

Whether Omar’s skill in the exotic veterinary field will be beneficial beyond successfully braving the Fijian wildlife will only be seen as the season airs. “Survivor” airs Wednesdays 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS. The two-hour season 42 premiere will air on March 9.