NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Well known for pushing people to their survivalist limits while in the nude, the reality TV show “Naked and Afraid” is giving New Mexico a double feature over the next two weeks. The show is slated to feature two episodes with unique New Mexico connections, including an episode filmed up north and another episode featuring an Albuquerque native.
Debuting its 15th season next Sunday, February 19, the first episode of the new “Naked and Afraid” season takes place in rugged high desert of northern New Mexico. The first show highlights a survival mission in the Sabinoso Region in rural San Miguel County, at least an hour drive east of Las Vegas.
In another first, the season premiere also pits the series’ first “foreigners to survive 21 days in the United States.” The show’s parent network, Warner Bros. Discovery says Lilly Jammerbund from Austria and Samuel Mouzer from the UK face an area where “rattlesnakes, unfamiliar terrain and unpredictable temperatures” are all threats the survivalists have to consider.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management describes the Sabinoso Region as “a remote area in the northeastern portion of New Mexico” with “a series of high, narrow mesas surrounded by cliff-lined canyons.” The BLM posted this video tour of the region on YouTube five years ago, complete with an EDM soundtrack.
The second episode in the latest season features Albuquerque native Kami Elsisie toughing it out on a mission in South America. According to Warner Bros. Discovery, Elsisie filmed her challenge in Guyana, a small country in the northern part of South America (and not to be confused with French Guiana.)
“With a father who grew up on Navajo Nation, [Elsisie] is skilled at tracking, hunting, and foraging: but is that and her paramedic background enough to get her through the 21 days?” said Warner Bros. Discovery in a promotional statement about the episode. “This nightmarish and otherworldly landscape with dense, virgin jungles is very different from where she learned her survival skills in New Mexico.”
Elsisie is described as a “veteran Naked and Afraid medic” by the show. A description of the episode states, “a tough-as-nails MMA fighter and a professional paramedic need to dig deep to attempt to survive 21 days in the brutal caiman infested jungle of Rupunini, Guyana.”
Filmed in northern New Mexico, season 15’s first episode is slated to air on Sunday, February 19 on the Discovery Channel at 8 p.m., and on Discovery’s streaming service. The episode is titled “Welcome to America” in TV listings.
The second episode of season 15 will be titled “No Holds Barred.” That features Albuquerque native Kami Elsisie and should air the following week on Feb. 26 at 8 p.m, according to the channel’s TV listings.
