Sydney woman survives 21 days naked in jungle for ultimate survival series Naked and Afraid

A Sydney woman has shared her story with news.com.au after surviving 21 days naked in the Colombian jungle.

Twenty-one days with no food, no water, no shelter and no clothes. Would you be up for the challenge?

Sydney woman Alexa Towersey didn’t hesitate when the opportunity came up and before she knew it, she was naked in the Colombian jungle for the ultimate survival series, Naked and Afraid.

“People are always like, why would you try and take on a challenge that extreme? But for me, I think the more hard things that you choose to do, the more hard things you can then do,” she tells news.com.au ahead of her episode, which airs Sunday, October 6 on the Discovery channel (available on Foxtel, BINGE and Fetch).

Alexa Towersey survived 21 days in the Colombian jungle for the series Naked And Afraid.

“We’re all going to go through stuff in life, whether it’s voluntary or involuntary, and the more of those hard things that you come out on the other side of, the more you have faith that whatever life throws at you, you’re going to be OK.”

The 44-year-old New Zealand-born strength coach said being on the show was “another opportunity to really push the boundary,” admitting she feared she might not be able to complete the task.

Another strange element the show throws at contestants: She lived alongside a male stranger, who was also completely naked.

She was only allowed to bring one item with her and she chose a machete.

Alexa was paired with an American man named Milo, who was also naked the entire time.

Although cameras followed Alexa on her journey in the jungle, she was essentially left on her own with a man named Milo and together they had to find a way to survive the harsh wilderness.

“Everyone gets really caught up on the whole nudity part because you are really vulnerable while out there with somebody you don’t know and you are naked,” she says.

“But honestly, once you are there, the nakedness becomes the least interesting thing about the show. You really forget about it because you’ve got so many other things to worry about.”

The pair had to make shelter and fire on their own.

Florida-born Milo was raised in an Amish community that had very traditional beliefs. Indeed, there was a definite culture clash between the pair as they squabbled over power dynamics and chores.

“He’s probably never encountered somebody like me. A strong, opinionated and independent woman is probably his worst nightmare,” she laughs.

“I quickly figured out that we had very different opinions, beliefs, value systems. And I think sometimes it’s smarter to wave the white flag and walk away from a situation. You’ve got to lose a few battles in order to win the war. The war being that we both make it out alive.”

Besides, Milo’s views were the least of her worries. There were days when they didn’t find any rock spiders to use as bait for fishing, and there were nights when it rained torrentially.

Night after night she and Milo were mercilessly bitten by bugs, so their naked bodies were covered in red blisters and welts.

Alexa’s body was covered in bug bites for the duration of her journey.

“No one prepares you for an experience like that and the type of suffering that you go through,” she says. “I never in a million years thought that I would have to actively hunt spiders. But it’s like, is this spider going to kill you? No. Is it going to be really uncomfortable? Yes. But can you do it? Yes. Just sort your sh*t out. Give yourself a pep talk and get the job done.”

“And with the bug bites, I looked like I had cankles by day three because there were so many. My legs were twice their size. But is this going to kill me? No. Am I OK? Yes. Just move on.”

Alexa said it was important to break down her daily challenges into smaller, “bite-sized portions”, taking it one day and one step at a time to make the goal more achievable.

She learnt how to fish by using rock spiders as bait.

It’s this same mental toughness and ability to adapt that helped her overcome her biggest challenge in life: when she almost died after hip replacement surgery in 2017.

What was meant to be a routine procedure turned near-lethal when she had an anaphylactic reaction to the antibiotics, flatlined and had to be resuscitated four times.

Alexa then spent one week in the ICU where she relied on a breathing tube because her lungs were so damaged.

Alexa almost died in 2017 when she had an anaphylactic reaction to antibiotics after surgery.

The strength coach says her mental toughness and positivity helped in her recovery.

“Everything you’ve been through in life is like your baggage. And people think baggage is a bad thing,” she says.

“But what if you’re on this massive and unpredictable trip we call life? And at different points you have these unexpected curve balls thrown at you. You can draw on an experience that you’ve been through to help you get through that particular challenge. And that’s kind of how I felt,” she shares.

“I think my physical toughness helped me. I was definitely probably one of the least experienced in terms of survival skillset – that’s not my forte. But I did have, through my training, an ability to suffer and that proved to be my greatest asset out there.”

Naked And Afraid airs Sunday, October 6 at 8.30pm on Discovery, available on Foxtel, BINGE and Fetch

Originally published as Sydney woman survives 21 days naked in jungle for ultimate survival series Naked and Afraid