Naked And Afraid: Has Anyone Been Seriously Injured While On The Show?
There's just something about reality shows that is addicting and keeps us tuning in season after season. Of course, they can also pose some level of danger to the participants, and with a title like Discovery's "Naked and Afraid," it's not surprising to know that some contestants suffered injuries during their time on the show. It's hard to imagine being so vulnerable to the elements and going through such pain, but as disturbing as "Naked and Afraid" can be, that hasn't stopped hundreds of thousands of viewers from grabbing their remotes and watching these people brave the wilderness.
Though getting hurt or scratched seems likely when you're naked in the wild, there have been moments where the participants have been seriously injured while filming the show. These include a man who burned his private parts on a hot coal, another who tore his scrotum, and a producer who almost died after being bitten by a snake. All of these are intense injuries, but they're mild compared to one contestant who almost lost his leg and life due to flesh-eating bacteria.
Matt Wright almost died
While Sam Mouzer, whose "little soldier" was burned when a lump of coal popped from a fire, and E.J. Snyder, who tore his scrotum after falling from a tree branch, stayed in the game, Matt Wright wasn't so lucky. In 2017, he competed in "Naked and Afraid: XL," where he and eleven other contestants had to survive in Ecuador's brutal Amazon. Due to his hunting skills, Wright seemed like the best choice to lead his small team to survival. Though some might believe "Naked and Afraid" is fake, the fact is that Wright was seriously injured while filming his season.
Wright's frightening journey started with a pain in his foot, which felt like yet another bug bite. Unfortunately, the agony got worse, and eventually he noticed that a blister had formed. Wright tried his best to carry on, but eventually he had to swallow his pride and talk to the show's medics, who did a test and gave him pain medicine. When the results came back, it was confirmed that Wright had a flesh-eating bacterial infection, which forced him to drop out of the competition.
Though he couldn't continue in "Naked and Afraid: XL," Wright wasn't done with the show. He eventually recovered, though it was a gamble whether he would survive the ordeal, and expressed his willingness to seek redemption, ultimately returning to the "Naked and Afraid" franchise in 2018 for the sub-series "Savage."