AceShowbiz - Andrew Callaghan's Channel 5 has turned its lens on one of the internet's stranger subcultures. In the latest episode of All Gas No Brakes, correspondent Taji embeds inside Camp Looksmax, the boot camp run by looksmaxxing figure Clav, where young men and women gather to "ascend" the attractiveness ladder.

The episode introduces viewers to the vocabulary of the movement. Campers describe themselves using terms like "sub5" and "ascend," and split their regimens into "softmaxxing" — better diets, strict workouts and social skills — and "hardmaxxing," which involves surgery. One male camper explains the stakes in blunt terms.

"Prior to ascending at all, you would call me a sub5, maybe borderline subhuman," he says in the episode. "Even if you're not necessarily super genetically gifted facially, you can still ascend to the point where you will literally be treated different by people."

Another camper describes the camp as a turning point. "I always hated myself and how I looked, you know? So, I just decided to change that one day," the camper says. "I'm excited to take home what I learned here to continue to build myself up and be the man I want to be."

Clav is candid about his methods. He asks Taji point-blank, "Do you have autism?" and outlines the social drills campers practice. "We do a lot of exercises to practice being neurotypical, whether it be trying to maintain a conversation with the opposite gender for a prolonged period of time or group speaking," Clav says. "We do a lot of exposure therapy through cold approaching."

Dating apps are a major focus. Clav and Hex review attendees' photos to optimize their profiles, and Clav advises using height inserts to clear filters. "Typically, girls can actually filter out all the profiles below 6 ft... I would say 6 foot, maybe 6'1, wear the inserts when you're on the date," he says. When a camper wonders whether a more artistic photo angle might appeal to someone creative, Clav dismisses the idea: "Well, why would you like niche max? You should be trying to have a broad appeal."

Women at the camp stress that looksmaxing is not limited to men or to extreme measures. "Hardmaxing is through like surgery and doing anything you can do to ascend. Softmaxing is through natural methods," one camper says. Another describes a broader transformation: "It's a constant journey of self-improvement, I just changed my entire diet. I only eat whole foods now… When you start to learn your body and everything, then you can learn what you need to do to ascend and improve. I feel the best I ever have, and I look the best I ever have."

Taji, who is initially rated "a relatively estrogenic sub5 MTN," throws himself into the experience and reports a change of his own. "I've fully ascended. I am now mogging, as they would say. They've all accepted me. I feel complete with the looksmax," he says.

The episode continues Channel 5's run of immersive, documentary-style reporting under Callaghan, whose work has often placed him inside communities that fall below the traditional media radar.