Scouting for Discovery’s “Naked and Afraid” series currently underway in PNG

By Matthew Vari

Sunday, May 17, 2015 (Sunday Weekly Magazine, PNG)

Papua New Guinea could be the staging point for an episode for Discovery Channel’s docu-series “Naked and Afraid”.

According to cultural officials in the country- contact has been made with the American show for the possibility for the use of an island in the country to stage an episode for the growing survival reality program.

The series started airing on June 23, 2013. Each episode chronicles the lives of two survivalists who meet for the first time and are given the task of surviving a stay in the wilderness naked for 21 days.

After they meet in the assigned locale, the partners must find and/or produce water, food, shelter, and clothing within the environment.

As part of the nature of the show- officials in the country are in the process of scouting for an island that has to be isolated and uninhabited, where only the survivalists and the filming crews will only be present.

Discussions with the National Censorship Board have progressed, which have concluded that the content is not going to be for Papua New Guinea viewing but for foreign viewing.

“The requirement is that it is going to be a very isolated island with no one near it and it has got to be 2 hours from the nearest hospital, we are looking at an island with part of the requirement they should be able to make local traditional clothing,” one official said.

“It has got to be a location that we are still scouting, but it will be something that will be kept under wraps.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter- Discovery recently ordered the renewal for a third season. The renewal comes on the heels of the season two premiere, which topped the reality series' debut in the cable channel's key demo of men 25-54. The series, which hails from Renegade 83, also averages 3.31 million viewers per show.

Filming for the show has already taken place in fellow Pacific Island nations of Fiji and Vanuatu- with the hope for a PNG episode the hope for local authorities.

“They have already made episodes in Fiji, in Vanuatu and now we are negotiating that we also have that opportunity,” the official said.

Naked and Afraid airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on Discovery.