Critics Slam Show for Obviously Planted Items

Naked and Afraid: Castaways challenges teams of people to last 21 days on a deserted island with nothing but their wits to rely on. But do contestants on the Discovery reality series have more of an edge than it seems? Cast members are allowed to use whatever items they can scavenge to help them survive. That includes whatever materials they can scrounge from a wrecked boat, plane, or Jeep. But some viewers aren’t a fan of the setup, saying that the items have obviously been planted on the island. 

‘Naked and Afraid: Castaways’ challenges contestants to last three weeks on a deserted island 

As in a traditional Naked and Afraid experience, the nine Castaways participants are challenged to last three weeks on their own with no clothes, food, or water. But the new spinoff came with a twist. Usually, N&A cast members are allowed to bring one survival item with them, such as a machete or a cooking pot. But in this case, they arrived on the unnamed island in the Pacific completely empty-handed, except for their canvas bag.  

Once they arrived on the island, the three teams of three people had to locate water, food, and a safe place to sleep. After 21 days, they’ll have to make their way to a designated extraction point on the north end of the island, where they’ll signal for a rescue ship. 

Critics think some parts of the ‘Naked and Afraid’ spinoff are fake 

The Castaways contestants arrived on the island – which was allegedly home to a military base in World War II – with nothing. But it didn’t take them long to discover that there were plenty of resources all around them. The teams quickly stumbled upon the wreckage of a crashed plane, a wrecked Jeep, and a dilapidated boat. Each site provided valuable tools, such as a magnifying glass that could be used to start a fire or a propeller blade that might function as a cutting tool. 

In addition, the castaways were able to scavenge supplies from the beach, where various potentially useful pieces of trash had washed up, such as empty water jugs and pieces of steel wool that could be used as a firestarter.

Critics think producers are making things too easy for the ‘Naked and Afraid’ cast

For some viewers, it was all a bit too coincidental. It’s plausible some of the trash could have washed up on the beach naturally. But many assumed the show’s production team had planted the larger and more obviously useful items for people to find.    

“It’s so obvious what is going on here with the well-placed random finds,” one person commented on Instagram. “Such a huge slap in the face to long-time, loyal viewers.” 

“Some of those items were placed there,” another agreed. 

For some Naked and Afraid fans, the suspicion that producers were manipulating things behind the scenes made watching the show less enjoyable. They felt the show was more about drama and staged situations and less of a test of genuine survival skills. Others felt it was “awkward” to make the contestants speculate how the objects made their way to the island. 

“Castaways would have been fun to watch… all ruined by the planted ‘scavenger finds,’ someone wrote on another Instagram post.

Others took a humorous view of the series. 

“Who knows?” one wrote on Instagram. “They may find Amelia Earnhardt’s body LMAO!”

New episodes of Naked and Afraid: Castaways air Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Discovery. 

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