Has Anyone Ever Been Attacked on ‘Naked and Afraid’?

Naked and Afraid is no joke. The Discovery Channel reality series follows people as they fight to survive in some of the most extreme environments on Earth. Participants battle extreme weather and rough terrain in the hopes that they can last three weeks in the wild. Wild animals are also a very real threat, with cast members sometimes sharing space with dangerous predators such as lions and alligators. Fortunately, no one has died on the show. But has anyone actually been attacked on Naked and Afraid? 

‘Naked and Afraid’ cast members are often attacked by insects 

The idea of being attacked by a lion, crocodile, bear, or other wild creature is undoubtedly terrifying. But for many Naked and Afraid cast members, the real threat comes in a much smaller package. Often, survivalists must endure painful bites and stings from insects and spiders. And those tiny critters can do serious damage. 

In the show’s season 13 premiere, a pair of survivalists were dropped in the Ecuadorian rain forest, where they soon encountered numerous fire ants, which are known for their incredibly painful stings. In a 2018 episode that took place in Florida, a yellowjacket stung a man on his genitals. Other contestants have been attacked by mosquitos and bitten by venomous spiders. 

In at least one case, a bug bite nearly proved deadly for a Naked and Afraid survivalist. Charlie Frattini made his third appearance on the show in 2018, during Naked and Afraid XL Season 5. Near the end of the challenge, he became delirious and was forced to tap out. He ultimately ended up in the hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with dengue fever stemming from a mosquito bite, according to a report from the Penobscot Bay Pilot.   

A ‘Naked and Afraid’ producer almost lost his foot to a snake bite

Snakes are also a serious threat to Naked and Afraid participants, and a bite from one of the reptiles resulted in one of the most serious medical incidents in the show’s history. However, it involved a producer, not a cast member. 

Steve Rankin was working on the show’s first season in Costa Rica when he was bitten by a fer-de-lance. 

“It’s one of the deadliest snakes in the world and the fangs went right through my foot,” he recalled to The Daily Mail.

Rankin was evacuated to a hospital in San Jose, but an infection started to spread and the flesh in his foot started to rot. After more treatment at a hospital in Los Angeles, including multiple skin grafts, he eventually began to recover.    

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Several participants have had close animal encounters 

Fortunately, no Naked and Afraid survivalist has been attacked by a large predator. However, participants have had some close encounters with potentially aggressive animals. Blair Braverman, who traveled to South Africa for her stint on the show, listened to hyenas howl as they encircled her camp during her first night in the wild. The next day, she made an even more alarming discovery. 

“In the morning, we found fresh elephant tracks all around us; we were blocking a path, and a herd had passed just a few feet away,” she recalled in an essay for Outside.

Jaclin Owen, who appeared on the show in 2023, recalled that it was when she heard the roar of a lion that she realized that some of the wildlife in Africa’s Kalahari Desert could kill her.

“It exceeded my fears,” she told the Northwest Indiana Times. “It was terrifying to hear that roar. I can’t put it into perspective. It stopped me in my tracks.” 

“I always had a belief that there is no such thing as bad animals, only bad people,” Owen added. “I wasn’t worried about the predators as much as I probably should have been. The first time I heard the roar of a lion, I froze in shock, and then there were the rhinos.”

New episodes of Naked and Afraid air Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Discovery.

Source: Penobscot Bay Pilot

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