"Not without a safety harness" - that's the stunning order from the ABC network as Nik Wallenda prepares for his tightrope walk across Niagara Falls.

ABC execs, who have exclusive rights to the event, have told the daredevil he has to break 200 years of family tradition by wearing a tether during the live broadcast next month. And the world-famous Wallenda is not pleased by the network's demand.

Wallenda said to The Buffalo News, "My biggest concern is that it will actually hold me back rather than help me. I am going to feel like I have a leash on."

Nik's wife said that the Wallenda clan has always lived by the philosophy "If we fall, we die."

Nik's great-grandfather died in 1978 when he fell from a tightrope between two hotels. And two Wallendas died in Detroit in 1962 during a pyramid stunt.

Nik concedes that the risk of him falling to his death is partly what makes people watch.

He told INSIDE EDITION, "There is definitely that thrill. Will he or won't he make it"

But an ABC spokesman said, "We are going to take every precaution to make this an exciting and thrilling event that families can feel very comfortable watching with their kids."
 
It seems all the attention over Wallenda's stunt is leading to lots of chaos at the Falls.

Cops say a suicidal man threw himself over the falls Monday. By some miracle, he survived the drop.