Naked and unAfraid: The question I never imagined I’d need to ask

IT’S a question you never imagine you’ll ask when you start work for the day as a journalist. But I asked it.

IT’S a question you never imagine you’ll ask when you start work for the day.

But survivalist, Green Beret and Naked and Afraid contestant Bo Stuart is politely missing the point.

Asked about the mechanics of being nude for 21 days in the jungle as part of the US reality show that dumps two strangers and leaves them to fend for themselves, the US Army Special Forces officer thinks I’m asking — as everyone does — was it embarrassing to be naked?

“Bo — I’ll put this as delicately as I can,” I begin. “Being naked the whole time — did it go from embarrassing to inconvenient?”

“It wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t an issue, I was comfortable with the nudity,” Stuart replies.

Given we’ve already canvassed this question at the start of the interview, (both Stuart, and his Naked and Afraid partner, nurse Debbie Harris say it took only half an hour and the presence of caiman crocodiles in the swamp they’d been dumped in to make nudity the least of their problems) I realise Stuart is just not getting it.

So I rephrase the question.

“OK Bo, I’ll be blunt. You’re 21 days in the jungle, building fires and shelter, cutting tracks, hunting, cooking … nude … what I’m asking is the mechanics … Did your penis end up just being an annoyance? Was it flopping about getting in the way?”

Let’s get this show on the road.

The millisecond of silence makes me think I’ve gone too far.

Then Stuart and Harris erupt in laughter.

Amid the mirth, the first Green Beret to participate in the cult show replies.

“I wouldn’t say get in the way, but it didn’t help with the bugs falling in your crotch. A walk in the woods, with thorns and vines — let’s just say you have to exercise a little caution.”

Welcome to the reality of Naked and Afraid, which is basically Survivor, nude, with no prize.

Currently in its fourth season on Australian screens, the show attracts survivalists as competitors, driven not by a need for celebrity or a cash prize, but obsessed with the challenge.

For Stuart and Harris, the lure of 21 days in the jungle trying to survive with a complete stranger — and little else (they are dumped in a jungle naked, and with no food or water) was impossible to resist.

Harris, a 31-year-old nurse and mum of three insists they’re not crazy.

“I spent time hunting and fishing growing up. I’d watched the show, I have skills, and in life I never want fear to be a reason I don’t do something,” she says.

“I wanted to put myself in that survival situation and persevere enough to push through.”

The most obvious part of the show — the nudity, was Harris’ biggest concern going in.

“Typically you don’t meet anybody for the first time naked — except for your mum when you’re born, but it just presented another challenge,” she says.

Every. Day.

“The bugs were terrible. There was not a place that was off limits,” she laughs.

There are clothes, but not until later.

The pair did make a crude bikini top and skirt for Harris — a necessity she says does not contravene the rules, or defeat the purpose, of the show.

“The show is Naked and Afraid, but part of survival is adapting. And part of evolving is creating covering for your body — otherwise we wouldn’t have clothes today. It’s part of the survival process,” she says.

“I had covering because of the bugs, but it had dual purpose — I did want to be covered. I’m married so I wanted to respect my husband.

“It did help with the bugs in private areas, (laughs) I couldn’t really be swatting at that all day — it would also be awkward for the viewer.”

Arguments are common for the pairings on the show — but Stuart and Harris quickly found they worked well as a team.

She voiced her displeasure early when he took charge and started giving orders, a move Stuart appreciated, despite his military background.

“I work in divisions where I am surrounded by other type A personalities who quickly put you in check if they think you are overreaching,” he says.

“And Debbie didn’t disappoint — she handled it quickly and it was fine.”

Despite being dumped in the wetlands of Guyana, with deadly snakes, disease-carrying sand flies and caiman, the two never quite felt the “afraid’ part of the show’s title.

“I didn’t feel fear at any point. You are in the jungle, in the moment, and you just have to react,” Harris says.

Naked and Afraid, Tuesdays, 8.30pm, Discovery Channel.

Originally published as Naked and unAfraid: The question I never imagined I’d need to ask