Tonight on Discovery, couples head to remote parts of the world to take on a 21-day survival challenge in Men Women Wild. If the premise sounds like Discovery’s smash series, Naked and Afraid, it is — to an extent. The six-episode series is produced by Renegade 83, the same production company behind Naked and Afraid, but once you get past the initial “2 people, 21-days,” the format takes a twist.
First, the contestants aren’t nude. I give a big “Phew” on this one, because, how many pixilated body parts can one person watch? In this survival series, they have clothes. Not a ton, but still — I’m fan of pants, and apparently, so are these folks. Over the course of the initial six episodes, we’ll be following three pairs of survivalists who will be in three wildly diverse ecosystems: the high desert mountains of Morocco, the frozen snow-covered fjords of Norway, and the thick, unforgiving jungle of southern Mexico. We finally get to see people in a more temperate climate! — Thank goodness they’ll have clothes. On Naked and Afraid, the survivalists each choose a primitive survival item, and recently, they were also given an additional item, typically a knife. In this series, they’ll have a small backpack filled with basic survival gear.
And here’s the series’ big twist — the couples are actual couples! No longer are strangers sent to survive together. In Men Women Wild, each of the three couples are in long-term relationships with each other. 21 days of kinda starvation and general miserable conditions should be a serious test of their relationships. I consider my husband and myself the world’s greatest team, but after a few days of no food, my hangry claws would come out. So I can’t wait to see how these couples fare; whether highly trained military personnel or self-taught primitive survivalists, each couple’s unique skill set, experience, and relationship will be challenged.
Meet the Survivalist Couples:
Image Credit: Discovery Communications
Justin Cook (32) and Jenny Cook (34)
Survival Location: Norway
Hometown: Montgomery, AL
Occupation: Justin is an Environmental Scientist; Jenny is a Regional City Planner
Marital Status: Justin and Jenny have been married for two years. They do not have children.
Image Credit: Discovery Communications
Mitchell Langon (40) and Jhoanna Trias (40)
Survival Location: Morocco
Hometown: Las Vegas, NV
Occupation: The couple owns a survival supply company together.
Marital Status: Mitchell and Jhoanna are not married. They have been dating for two and a half years and do not have children.
Image Credit: Discovery Communications
Matt Stevens (29) and Ali Stevens (33)
Survival Location: Southern Mexico
Hometown: Spokane, WA
Occupation: Matt is an elite survival instructor with the U.S. Air Force, and Ali is a personal trainer, yoga instructor and a full-time mom.
Marital Status: Matt and Ali have been married for six years and have three children between them including a 15-year-old, a 9-year-old and a 4-year-old.
Does the title of this series sound familiar to you too? From 2010 to early 2012, Discovery was home to a similarly-named series, Man, Woman, Wild, in which former US Army Special Forces survival expert Mykel Hawke, and his television journalist wife, Ruth England, survive for a half-week at a time in wild and inhospitable locations around the world. Hawke spent the series teaching his survival neophyte wife basic survival skills. The couple also participated in a similar series for Travel Channel, Lost Survivors.
Could you survive with your significant other for three weeks? I’ll definitely be watching tonight and will post my thoughts after the show in a recap.
Men Women Wild > Discovery > Wednesdays at 10pm ET/PT