Magician Wayne Houchin was set on fire during a live TV appearance in the Dominican Republic earlier this week.
But this wasn’t a stunt gone wrong. According to The Stir , Houchin was the victim of an improvised exorcism.
The magician, who hosted a season of the Discovery Channel’s Breaking Magic, appeared on a talk show in the Dominican Republic earlier this week to promote his new show Curiosidades. During the show, the talk show host reportedly poured burning cologne on Houchin’s head. The host reportedly used Aqua De Florida cologne, which is apparently used by shamen as a cleansing agent, in order to wash the voodoo off of Houchin.
The video show’s the host touching Houchin’s head and setting him on fire. Houchin was rushed to the hospital and suffered bad burns on his head, face, neck and hand from the incident.
After the incident a statement was posted on Houchin’s Facebook page.
“Monday while appearing on a TV show in the Dominican Republic, the TV host took a handful of Aqua De Florida, ignited it and intentionally dropped it on my head, setting me on fire. I was not aware he was going to do this. This was not a stunt or part of an act – this was a criminal attack. The fast actions of the rest of our Curiosidades team saved my life.”
Houchin later updated his Facebook page saying that that he still loved the Dominican Republic despite the fact that someone set him on fire during his stay.
Houchin wrote:
“The Dominican Republic is a beautiful country full of beautiful people. Despite all that has happened over the past couple of days, our team has not forgotten why we’re here: to spread joy, wonder, and love through the performance of magic and illusion.”
The magician said that doctor’s were optimistic that he would recover without any scars.
Here’s a video of the incident. (The video shows the magician being set on fire and may be disturbing for some viewers.)
Houchin called the incident a criminal act on Facebook but it’s unclear if any charges have been filed.