The pay (or lack thereof) is not the only surprising element of 60 Days In. According to former Season 1 participant, Rob Holcomb, the show is edited to make it seem as if the undercover contestants are in more danger than they are. "The show was real, but the editing was fake," Rob told Radar Online. "The inmates figured me out in two hours and they treated me like gold. They were the nicest group of people I had been around my entire life.”

He continued, "They tried to make it look like I was going to be attacked. The show made inmates look like animals; in reality they were kind human beings suffering from drug problems." 

For others, the show had a negative effect. Alan Oliver, a police officer who went undercover during the fourth season, was unable to return to work following his appearance on the show. "I couldn't go to bed at night knowing that if I stopped somebody with a little dime bag of weed, I were to arrest them and put them in a place like that — I wouldn't be able to live with myself," Alan explained. 

However, none of that is not stopping people from lining up to compete. Executive producer Gregory Harris revealed there is never a shortage of people looking to spend 60 days behind bars. "One of the most surprising things was how many folks were willing to put aside their lives for two months to participate in a program like this," he told Buzzfeed. He then went on to explain how casting is a  "massive, mostly unconventional effort" that requires interviewing more than 300 people, who then have to undergo rigorous background and medical checks. 

"The sheriff knew going in that if he had seven [versions of the same person], he was not going to get a full perspective on what was happening inside from every possible angle," he added. "It's months upon months of work to get it to the place we got it to... but probably the most rigorous you will find in any television show."

Would you sign up? Season 8 of 60 Days In is on Thursdays at 9 EST on A&E.