Original subtitles

I did not expect it to be as cold as it getting down here in Africa.

This uh, environment just got that much more challenging.

But, you know, ain't no tapping out, so it don't matter.

This Naked And Afraid challenge is a done deal

because, as you can see Marlin "So Icey" Sims, professional boxer.

My name is Marlin "So Icey" Sims.

I've been ranked in the top 40 in the US.

Still undefeated... Marlin "So Icey"...

The most thing that I love about boxing

is once you're in that ring,

everything is solely up to you.

You just have to stay strong.

You've got to have confidence.

I am undefeated. And you can't beat me.

Just like I'm in the ring.

I'm gonna do my thing.

This will definitely be the greatest fight of my life.

This is Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, man.

This is "The Rumble in the Jungle" right here.

Let's go!

I'm just not sure anybody can survive here for 21 days.

Oh, my God!

- Run! - Go, go, go!

Oh, God.

Don't ask--

Die first.

I'm a little bit cold.

Africa is not as warm as I thought it would be.

I'm every emotion that you could imagine right now.

Nervous, excited, scared.

But I know I can do this challenge

because my wife, Monica, completed a 21-day challenge.

And she never quit, and she never gave up.

She motivates me to do anything.

If I have a goal and it's the craziest goal

she's always like, "Go for it."

Like, "You can do it."

You think I'm gonna make it?

Oh, yeah.

21-days.

Everything I did to this point,

that was my training camp.

So now this is me walking out into that arena.

I'm just ready to do it, man.

Let's do it.

Erin and Marlin are entering the treacherous Black hills of South Africa.

An area home to some of the deadliest animals on the continent.

Fierce Nile crocodiles,

and extremely aggressive hippos with long, sharp teeth.

And a bite force of around 1800 psi

that can snap their prey in half.

And where, during the winter months,

temperatures can plunge into the 40s at night.

Wow, there's a giraffe in the middle of the road.

Staring us down.

Holy hell, I just seen some water bucks.

I'm in Africa now.

Well, I guess this is it.

Looks like this is me.

Here comes the weird part.

I'm a nudist.

I love myself. I love my body.

I'd be naked on the average day if I could without,

you know, going to jail.

Hit the road, Jack.

Sorry, Dad.

This is so crazy.

I think I'm about to meet my partner.

I don't care what my partner's skills are.

I just want them to have the proper mindset

that you need in survival.

I hope my partner is somebody who knows the land.

You know, the things that we can consume out here.

There's going to be a lot of body energy

calories that I'm going to be using.

- Hey. - How you doing?

My gosh.

-I've been so excited to meet you. -Likewise.

-I'm Erin -All right. Erin, Marlin. Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you. Where are you from? -Okay.

- Uh, Florida. How about you? - Florida?

-I'm from Kansas, but I live in California. -Kansas--

-Okay, So-- -So you're not used to this?

Yeah, No. I'm from Minnesota.

-Okay. -But I just love heat.

Yeah, I bet.

I-- I lived in Alaska, so I'm a little bit used to it.

-But I'm not built for the cold, so. -Okay.

Yeah, me either.

That's why I'm in the Sunshine State.

Yeah, let's check out our bags.

Let's go and see.

To have a chance at surviving 21 days

in the Black Hills of South Africa.

Each survivalist has brought two survival items.

So let's see what you got?

I got my machete.

-Beautiful. -And a fire starter, too.

What did you get?

So I got some hooks and some fishing line.

- Oh, I'm so happy to see that. - Yes.

They have also been provided a pot for hydration.

I also have the map inside the bag.

Sweet.

I'm assuming this is where we are.

I guess, if we head south to our water source

and start camp up there?

All right. Let's get started.

-Take one day at a time. -Yep. Yep.

- All right. - That's what I've been saying.

- You want to lead the way? - Ah, let's go.

Hoping the sun comes out,

You know, it's going into the winters.

It's a little chilly out here.

I wasn't expecting that on uh, in Africa.

I know.

But it's pretty-- It's pretty dense out here, I guess.

Yeah, it is thick.

So what's your background?

What did you do for work?

I was in the military for the past seven years.

Oh, wow.

After I got out of the Air Force, I was a cop in Alaska.

Alaska is cold and brutal and there's a lot

more criminals there than you would think.

I think it made me really mentally tough

- because like, you would see pedophiles, murderers. - -Mmm-hmm.

And then you just have to go on to the next call like nothing happened.

Yes.

In law enforcement, you have to find a way to deal

with the stress that you've endured.

And for me it was rock climbing and backpacking

and just learning about primitive survival

and that's how I was able to process

all of the the trauma that I saw,

and I've backpacked all over California and Alaska.

And my wife did this challenge.

Oh!

So, you know, we practiced

primitive survival skills together, and all that.

Nice.

So I'm pretty sure your wife is super excited for you to be out here.

Oh, yeah. I can't go home, man, without finishing this.

She finished.

What about you?

Um, I'm a professional boxer.

- Oh, really? - Yes.

That's awesome.

But um, I consider myself

- a fan-turned-survivalist. - Yeah?

I grew up in the city.

I didn't grow up hunting.

I didn't grow up on the farm.

This is all considered white people

But I'm the type of person that you can't tell me that I can't do something.

I'll show you different.

It didn't take me any time at all to get that started.

I'm so icy. But hey, I'm a fire starter. You feel me?

I truly believe in my skills where I can survive 21 days in the wild.

I call this "The Rumble in the Jungle."

Just like Muhammad Ali versus George Foreman, so.

After this then I get back to the ring.

- Yeah, stronger than before. - -Yes.

So I just met my partner

and he's pretty awesome and positive, so I'm excited.

Hopefully we make 21-days together.

Marlin's boxing background

gives him the toughness and fight to survive.

But his inexperience in extreme elements could knock him down.

As a result, his primitive survival rating, or PSR,

begins at 6.6.

Erin's military and law enforcement training

is an asset when handling adversity.

But will her sensitivity to cold be too much to overcome?

She begins with a PSR of 6.2.

Oh yeah. Here's some bones.

Looks like pretty old.

Oh. Look at this.

Looks like a Wildebeest.

Oh, beautiful.

That is pretty heavy. Goddamn.

Definitely out here, man.

You just got to keep your head on the swivel.

- Okay. - -It's-- It's opened up here.

We're on a dried river bed.

-It looks like-- -That's what it looks like.

- Yeah, oh, wait, I see that's water. - -Might be the water.

It's not a mirage.

Look at that.

It's beautiful.

Yeah.

We should run to the pond.

- Literally. - If you want to.

-We can. -All right.

We got a little distance.

- Water. - Nice.

All right.

I see a lot more track here.

Yeah. There's animals out here for sure.

- Big time. - -We're gonna share this pond?

- Yeah. - -We'll have to find a spot around here.

Do you want to look-- I mean, it looks like kind of a natural...

- To the right? - Yeah. Over there.

Yeah. Let's go and check it out.

You know, we're on the time crunch.

It's just a matter of fact of how high we want to get up.

I mean, I don't want to be too far from the water.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

What do you think about-- What, right up here?

It's kind of, it's flat here.

- So-- - What do you think?

We should go ahead and call it home?

Yeah, I think so.

Clear out the bottom first.

Yeah, clear out the bottom and then start finding

thorns we can put around.

Alrighty.

You brought some gardening gloves with you?

Yeah, I wish.

I just want to make sure that we're safe at night,

because at night, that's when the wildlife come out.

The real predators the leopards, the lions,

the hyenas, the crocs, the everything,

So we need to make sure that we have a boma fortify with thorns.

Oh, it's thorns city,

but that's exactly why I want this one.

What possessed Mother Nature to grow these

What is attacking the trees?

Oh sh...man. Scratched up the jewels.

Hey, this is no joke.

Phew!

Get past that hyena.

Let's work on the fire.

I got you.

You can only go so long,

especially doing this type of work

without uh, any hydration.

I found some dry tinder.

All right.

It's the moment of truth.

There we go.

This gonna go?

Yep. You got it.

We got fire.

I'm from the damn city.

From the hood, man. In the in the goddamn--

This is so fun.

Yeah, I'm crying.

I'm crying for happiness.

Yeah, eh, we-- we're moving on up so on to the next

And I can't wait to see the little fish we can pull up out of here, man.

Yeah, I know.

We got our first pot.

Yeah.

We're here. We got it. We're good.

- We're making it work. - Good job.

Yes, persistent.

- We were dedicated. - Mmm-hmm.

Things is going great.

She's great.

It's just magic right now.

Tired.

I'm sure it will be with the fire.

Oh, but I'm excited, man.

- This is-- - Yeah, this is awesome.

This is real right now.

It's our first night in our boma.

First night in a boma.

Goddamn, it's gonna be real.

Yeah, I don't feel comfortable no more.

-I do, but I don't at the same time. -Don't think about it.

'Cause there are holes in this boma.

There's just goddamn sticks with points.

Oh, croc.

You know this croc?

That's scary.

We gotta keep this fire going all night.

- Yeah. - This just got real.

This fire is honest to God. True of life.

There terrifying.

Did you hear that?

What the

Oh, God.

Well, we did it, you know what I mean,

we-- we got through the first night.

I know I'm excited but the night time, it's hard.

I probably got three hours of sleep

We're tired, but if you don't start getting food,

it messes with your mind a little bit.

So that's what we're focusing on.

So beautiful out compared to yesterday. Oh, my goodness.

I know.

This morning we're gonna try to look

for some stuff that we can use for fishing.

Just flipping over these rocks and logs.

I found some frogs.

Nice catch.

They're pretty small, but the frogs would be a good bait.

We got our fishing line.

We got some bait.

We got the hooks.

Did you see that? Something jumpy.

Yeah, we've got a croc in the water.

Oh, my God.

Holy Ooh, that is so dangerous.

We are not alone.

This is Africa.

We have crocodiles in the area.

Croc has been around since the dinosaurs.

It is literally a dinosaur,

one of the most dangerous animals in the world.

But our goal is to be able to sustain our

bodies so we got to get some food in us.

I'll throw it out a little away.

We're prey right now, but we're hungry.

So risking it for the biscuit.

Just keeping my eye on that croc.

I know there's more crocs.

I know.

We're just setting some lines

to see if we can get some fish.

We don't necessarily have to sit there and watch it.

We can come back and check and hopefully, we are successful.

Okay.

Good.

Yep.

Before the end of the night,

we'll go back and check it out.

Hopefully, we can score something today.

Hip hip hooray.

Uh...

The line is there.

See something?

Oh, look.

Every-- thing is gone.

I Everything is gone.

We just had a croc here, so.

That's far now.

Do we have enough hooks?

So tomorrow we're just going to have to probably do some active fishing.

You know, it's a fishing game, you know.

You just got to be persistent.

You've got to keep going. Don't give up.

Me and my partner, Erin. We both hate the cold.

- Hmm. - Absolutely hate it.

The nights are really really hard.

Last night was so freaking cold.

I only got a couple hours of sleep

Today the main priority is um, food and comfort.

Right now, Marlin is checking the lines

while I fortify the shelter.

We need to keep the heat in

and make sure that we can stay warm if it rains,

because I'm more than a little worried about the weather.

Oh.

It was way colder on Monica's challenge, though,

and she didn't complain about that at all.

Ow! God.

I got a massive cut on my foot now.

Ow! Oh. I mean, it's deep.

Hope it doesn't turn into an infection.

Hopefully I can get some fish out of here.

I don't see any--

Oh He was right here the crocodile.

He better not eat nothing off

You gotta keep your eyes peeled.

I'm gonna just start using some driftwood,

some more tree bark, um, using that as a bobber.

So, if I really get a nice snag,

I'll be able to notice it better

than trying to pinpoint the line.

Hopefully, we could have some success out here pretty soon.

Feed us.

Erin.

Oh, hey. Any luck?

Not at all.

I covered this area.

It looks good, too.

Beautiful.

That's what's up.

All right, so check this out.

Our boma is so dark you can't see anything

and it's not even dark outside yet.

We have the best boma

in Naked And Afraid history.

Things are just hip hip hooray for us right now,

I'm someone who is very attuned with his body.

Physically, I can feel depletion, a little bit of drain,

which is a very serious thing

because you know me as a a professional boxer,

I got to make sure I got the proper calories of proper energy.

We are definitely going to have to lock up

and come up on something.

I got this one here caught up on a rock or something, or a stick.

Catching everything but a fish.

Catching sticks, catching debris, seaweed, air.

Oh

It's a little, it's swollen.

My feet are infected.

It's super tender.

I really feel like it would be a great idea

to just kind of really just not do too much.

It'll help it heal.

Yeah, probably.

It might help.

Are you going to fish?

Yep.

- Yes. - Thank you.

You're welcome. Rest up.

My partner, she's down today,

so, you know, I got to keep moving.

Got to keep doing what I can do

to try to put some food in our body.

I just hope that she, you know, overcome it

because I didn't sign up to do a solo.

I really want to finish because of Monica,

like she told me how much she struggled,

but you know, being here, I see like, what she must have really

you know, struggled in.

and... I don't think she'd be proud if I quit.

Nothing.

Hmm.

Maybe I can even throw some lines in a new spot.

It's dangerous here.

Here I don't have any rocks to protect me from the crocs.

But my partner is down

due to an infection in her foot.

You know, we need food so that she can heal.

I think it's risky, but I think it's worth a shot for sure.

This is for you, Erin.

All we can do is just hope.

I just need a win in the form of food.

We got a lot of movement. Oh!

Got something.

Yep. Yes!

Catfish. First one.

We never gave up.

The first Naked And Afraid fish.

God dang it.

I've imagined this moment so many different times.

I'm very excited.

Look at that bad mamma jamma right there.

I could kiss it.

Boom bada bing.

We got our fish and we're ready for more.

Let's go!

Second catfish, bigger.

We've got two big catfish. Put catfish on the menu.

Another fish.

Beautiful, that's what I'm talking about.

And then we got another one.

You'll be eating good tonight.

Excited to being able to provide for my partner, to be honest.

We're able to eat sustain, you know, get that protein

and healthy fats and everything.

Yes!

Might not happen when we want it.

But it comes when we need it.

We're still naked, but we ain't afraid.

We're doing what we can do.

Erin get some fire going, please.

No way.

Three catfish. Three Tilapias.

Whoa!

I am so excited, Marlin caught so many fish.

Wow! Good job.

This is the nutrients needed for my body to heal.

So right now what we're doing is a mixture

of a Tilapia catfish broth, Stomach's growling.

Can't wait to eat.

Hooray 1st bite of today's catch.

Yeah, that's good.

Oh, my goodness.

I don't even wanna talk? I just wanna savor this right now.

No words on how good this is.

My body is receiving it. It is loving it.

How do you feel so far?

Well, I already feel better.

We're gonna be all right.

We're gonna be all right.

My feet feel better.

Oh, nice.

That's beautiful.

I feel good that we had food yesterday.

I feel like we started over, you know,

starting over a challenge.

So the plan is we're gonna go down to the fishing hole,

bright and early.

Catfish for breakfast.

Catfish for brunch, catfish for lunch,

catfish for dinner.

I kind of wish the sun was out just a little bit more.

Me too.

Oh, Hippos.

- Look at the Holy -Oh!

Oh, my gosh.

Yeah, if we're not fishing today.

We have five hippos in the water right here.

The most dangerous animal in Africa,

Hippos are highly territorial

and, when threatened, can run at speeds of 20 mph.

Easily outpacing a human.

And hippos kill more humans than anything else.

I think it's around like 400 plus a year.

They don't even want to eat you.

They just want to kill you

and get you out of their territory.

It would be so dangerous

for us to go down by that pond.

I need to fish right here.

That's our source of proteins.

You know, everything that would replenish my body

to keep me going and fuel it up.

So I'm a little worried.

I guess we're never eating again.

Everybody got a plan

until they get punched in the face,

and this challenge has punched me in the face.

Look, it's getting up.

We might have to haul ass before they get over here.

All right, let's roll out.

Yeah, it is a wrap.

You might as well sell all your property.

Screwed.

That'll let you know the seriousness of a hippopotamus,

We know there's crocodiles there.

We see the crocodiles, 7-foot crocodiles

while we're fishing and everything.

But we don't stop because of a crocodile.

See some hippos.

Uh, we get to move immediately.

Oh, Sh...man!

Hippos are still here.

They kicked us out.

Eviction, if they call that place home.

We can't go there no more.

If the hippos don't leave, that could make things more challenging.

No. Hippos down there still.

Yeah.

I could see a big difference in my body.

Arms are a lot smaller.

Thighs are extremely a lot smaller.

But this is when the real challenge starts.

I've just been scared lately.

You know, I'm a professional boxer.

I got to take care of my body because after this 21-days,

I got to get back to work,

and I got to get back to the ring with the hippos.

We can't get more protein,

And if I can't get the protein,

that could possibly make me tap out.

We're gonna be okay.

It's just gonna start feeling really weak

and dizzy and just go slow.

Okay?

Hippos are killers.

They are some territorial they will rip you up.

Oh ho...

- Oh God. - That is dangerous.

Feeling very, very, very depleted.

I feel so far gone.

My cravings for food, It's more than my will

to want to beat this right now,

I just think I want-- I just want to leave.

I don't know.

Freakin A.

How are you feeling?

I almost passed out.

Never in my entire life ever felt that.

Just have to adapt.

What?

I'm just scared.

Out of nowhere, he said he's stopping.

I don't get it.

I'm an athlete.

- I'm a professional boxer. - That's it.

And I need to make sure that I keep my body up to where it needs to be.

I just want to go eat.

Erin will be very disappointed that she had to continue

the rest of these days by herself.

But I'm done.

I'm tapping out.

Get me out of here, please.

I'm surprised.

And I'm like, what the ?

I know.

That feeling.

That's the feeling.

When you finish this...

Not comparable.

I just want to go home.

Okay?

You know, I can do this

I just don't want to do it like that--

That's the thing. Honestly, my truth.

And as weak as it might look.

But

This is Marlin Sims.

I did not make it the 21 days

I could wield my mind to keep going.

But it's my body at this moment that, that I'm listening to.

Yes.

Thanks for everything.

Sorry. I couldn't just be there more mentally.

No, it's-- It's fine.

It's just uh... You did awesome at the beginning.

And I think you'll regret it.

No, I'll get over it.

I proved that I've got the skills to survive.

But, yeah, I just

need to get back to regular life for now.

Outside of this challenge, I'm a professional athlete.

You know, I just always got to take care of my health.

It sucks that I had to leave my partner behind.

But I know that she's strong.

She's strong minded.

For anybody who think that they know me

because I quit on this challenge.

You don't have no ideas until you're out here.

The Black Hills in South Africa is no joke.

It got the best of me.

While Marlin proved his fishing skills

when faced with the difficulty of weight loss

and physical depletion,

he was unable to adapt and overcome.

As a result, his PSR drops from 6.6 to 5.2.

Goodbye, Africa.

It's been real.

A little too real.

What am I going to do, cry?

I'm sad, you know, we started this thing.

I'd like to finish it together,

but I don't want to finish it with someone who's not all in.

I'm all in. I want to be with somebody who

you know, wants the do this thing like, let's do it.

You know, what really matters

is that you see it all the way through

and you survive to the end, and that's what I'm gonna do.

Now I can sleep wherever I want.

So quiet.

I can't. I can't. I can't believe my partner left me.

I kind of can't believe he left.

The hippos.

They don't want me at their pond.

the hippos and I are battling for territories.

We're two neighbors from hell.

And if there's hippos there, I'm not going to catch a fish.

But I'm still going to, like, go out there

and try because you-- you never know.

You really never know.

I can walk like a normal person again.

My body has healed, and I think the infection is gone.

Ha!

I don't see any hippos.

It's amazing.

I reclaimed my territory.

Today the hippos are gone.

But there's always something out here watching you

and I see that crocodile watching me today.

It's definitely watching me, watching my patterns,

watching where I go.

But my hunger is more intense than my fear.

I'm feeling weaker and weaker.

It's all really challenging,

but you know, I mean, this challenge really changed

my wife, Monica.

She's mentally a stronger person. I see it.

You know, I think that doing something hard

and pushing yourself even when it really sucks

or you know, in your lowest moment

that you could ever be and you come out of it.

Is when you really become a stronger person.

Nothing.

And when you really learn about yourself...

What's for dinner?

Boiled hot water.

Yum!

I'm so hungry.

I've never gone this long without eating

And what if I try everyday fishing

and I don't catch anything?

And then I'm like, 10 times a weaker.

I don't have enough energy for anything.

I'm just off balance and like not thinking as clearly

If I don't eat anything, I'm not gonna make it 21-days.

I really want to finish, like, so bad,

and I feel like I would would be a failure to her

if I didn't-- Maybe, I swear to God.

Oh, my God.

Hello and good morning.

We're cleaning our teeth this morning.

Besides the bomas, this is the only good use of thorn.

Otherwise they're just annoying.

I gotta use some charcoal

when I brush my teeth?

Thing that's great about this is that

this charcoal got the-- basically like detox your teeth.

Um, got antioxidants.

I gotta do some forms of hygiene out here.

If y'all ask me, what is my number one thing

that I want to do when I leave here?

I want to go to the dentist.

Oh, my God.

Phew! I caught it, I caught a Terrapin.

I'm going to live.

I feel like I'm gonna be able to walk out of here instead of crawl.

I'm so happy I could cry.

It's cooking Now.

It's on the stove.

Look at all that fat.

Well... you know, honestly, it tastes like...

...chicken.

Fatty chickens.

That is crazy good.

So much protein.

I literally feel like somebody

opened me up and put a new pair of batteries on me.

Turtle is not bad.

It is night 20

in the middle of nowhere in South Africa.

And to commemorate my time out here I am giving myself

a primitive tattoo with a fishing hook,

charcoal water, and a little bit of pain.

It'll be on my knee where Monica's tattoo is.

This is a line.

This one best friends for life.

It's a broken line and a whole line,

and it symbolizes brokenness to wholeness.

It kind of symbolizes how I felt when I got out here.

I felt like I couldn't do it.

Sometimes I felt like I struggled.

And then, you know, I just adapted to everything out here.

I became a stronger person.

But I have extraction in the morning.

Extraction looks long and hard.

But I know that I can get through anything.

It feels like literally Christmas morning.

It feels like I've been waiting years for this day to come.

I'm ready to get the hell out of here.

I'm ready to eat some pancakes.

Check out my map.

It looks like it will be a journey for sure.

To reach her extraction point,

Erin must hike 3.5 miles

across dense, thorn covered terrain,

she'll have to stay vigilant.

As venomous cobras and black mambas

lurk within the thick grass

while herds of aggressive hippos

roam the vast African bush.

Get me out of here.

Trying to just be careful where I step.

I'm kinda in high grass.

Here, and I can't really see what's exactly on the ground.

Anything could be in this grass.

Snakes, scorpions, lions.

It's too hot.

I have no idea how much longer I have to go,

but I just gotta keep moving.

I can't slow down now.

Ouch!

Ow!

Hidden thorns here.

Oh ho, invisible on the ground.

I can't tell where they're-- Ow!

They are just randomly...

The thorns out here.

Thorns are plentiful.

Ow!

They're everywhere.

Ow!

Ow! What the hell?

Ow!

Doesn't matter what direction they are on the ground.

You'll step on it.

They're all through here, too.

There's nowhere to go.

Ow!

I don't know if I can do this.

Ow!

They're everywhere.

Nope, I cannot walk through here.

There's no other way around.

Ow!

What the

I feel like I can't do it.

Oh, my God.

But I can hear Monica in the back of my mind,

Talking to me like telling me you can do it.

It's hard, but you can--

You have more strength than you know.

I couldn't make it.

I can make it through.

Literally gonna crawl out of here.

I would do anything to finish.

I swear to God.

Let me find a way.

I can walk on there and then I can walk on the grass that way.

Please don't be thorns.

My God!

Like I'm ready to be saved.

But did you hear that?

Is that for me?

I think I'm finally getting out of here.

It's beautiful.

It feels so good. I've never been so happy.

I made it.

21-days in Africa, eight days alone.

I couldn't be more happy.

I can't wait to eat food.

I'm just really proud that I didn't give up.

You know, usually I lean on people in my life

to help build me up.

But I was out here alone, and I did it alone

and there were a lot of difficult moments,

and I came out on top

and I finished and I'm so proud of myself.

Over the course of 21 days, Erin lost 19 pounds.

Her PSR surges from 6.2 up to 7.3

I can't wait to go home to my family.

I can't wait to hug my wife.

Monica, I love you so much.

I hope I make you proud.

21-days.

Goodbye, Africa,