Alone is a reality competition show that typically isolates 10 contestants in the wilderness, and the last survivalist to ’tap out’ wins a $500,000 cash prize. The History Channel series makes for some binge-worthy suspense and drama, as well as a few laughs. Alone can be streamed on Netflix, Hulu, DirecTV, History, and more.
Outdoorsmen, hunters, scientists, and many other nature-oriented professionals have competed on the show, but several notable contestants have come from unlikely lines of work, so anyone could feasibly have a chance. Alone is filled with inspiration, learning curves, and emotions, but there are also plenty of things that viewers don’t know about the wilderness survival show.
Boot Camp Before Filming
After going through a copious number of applications submitted before each season, The Cinemaholic shared that the makers of Alone select 20 potential contestants to attend a boot camp. The boot camp does not occur in the same area that the following season is filmed, and this is no ‘sneak-preview’ for contestants.
Instead, hired survival experts will take the contestants through various tasks and tests and evaluate both their physical and mental skills/weaknesses in an isolated, wild context. After evaluations, half of the potential contestants are cut while the other strongest competitors on Alone advance.
Here’s How To Get On Alone
Alone has only gotten more popular since the first season, which has intrigued many of its viewers to audition for the show. Fans of Survivor would love this show, but how does a potential contestant get on Alone? Executive Producer Ryan Pender told Distractify all a person has to do is reach out to the History Channel.
The site wrote, “Send an email to the show at alonecasting@itv.com with your name, age, contact information, location, and a description of the kind of survival experience you have.” However, with thousands of applicants every year, the competition is stiff.
All About Number 2
One of the bigger questions viewers have is where do the contestants go to the bathroom in the middle of the night or in the middle of bad weather? Contestant Nicole Apelian told History Channel some behind-the-scenes facts about her experience with going to the bathroom on Alone.
Apelian said, “I would dig a hole for #2–I tried to poop in the same general area so that I wouldn’t forage or walk there.” When it came time for a woman’s menstrual cycle, she shed some light on what they were allowed to bring. She continued saying, “We’re allowed to bring whatever we use for our menstrual cycles at home with us, as long as we don’t repurpose it.”
Thousands Of Hours Of Footage Will Be Cut
One of the most innovative aspects of the reality competition series’ format is how contestants film themselves. Executive producer Shawn Witt told Cynopsis that the contestants produce thousands of hours of footage. The contestants constantly film themselves for an indefinite amount of time is difficult to assimilate into a coherent lineup of episodes.
Nevertheless, editors scrounge through the contestants’ allotted footage—some seasons go on longer than others—and develop a small fraction of everything shot into a season. Alone’s editors do a pretty fantastic job of deriving entertaining storylines and amusing jabs of humor out of the plethora of captured footage, making Alone one of the best reality competition series.
Alone Has Its Own Medical Team
Executive producer Ryan Pender told Distractify that the show has its own medical team and set of doctors to make sure the contestants are as healthy as they can be when surviving in the wild.
“We have, you know, our doctor step in and analyze and take a look at all these things,” Pender said. Whenever there are serious medical concerns, producers call doctors for more insight. Pender continued saying, ““If we have questions, we go back to their doctors, and we ultimately, you know, have their doctors, sign off on saying yes or no. And then ultimately, we have to make that choice of whether we agree, or we don’t.”
Massive Competition For Being Selected
Alone’s showrunners receive a massive count of applications from survival enthusiasts before each season. Competition for getting on the show has stiffened due to the series’ growing popularity after nine seasons. Alone is one of the more difficult reality competition shows to be considered for, even when it comes to making boot camp.
Nevertheless, fans shouldn’t be entirely discouraged, as people from all kinds of disciplines have made it on the show. Additionally, many former competitors appeared to compete for ‘inner-gratitude’ rather than the promise of a cash prize. Perhaps this kind of internal motivation is something the producers are looking for in contestants. Considering not every History Channel show is great, Alone is setting the bar for what viewers are interested in.
Contestants Are Not As Far Away From Civilization As Viewers Think
According to numerous savvy viewers, Alone’s contestants are sometimes sent to destinations that are fairly close to civilization. For instance, The Wood Trekker blog pointed out, in one season, every contestant was an hour’s walk from a road or town.
Potential contestants can take this in several ways. They may find it comforting that civilization is so close by, or they might be annoyed that the remoteness of the experience is somewhat ‘artificial,’ creating a fake reality show. Nonetheless, viewers have yet to see a contestant make their way to civilization.
Some Of The Biggest Moments May Not Be Shown
Many former contestants have voiced their slight dissatisfaction with some of the footage that editors chose to cut. Contestants see the final cut of the show at the same time as the general public, so it must make for a total buzz-kill when a big moment they filmed isn’t included. While Alone is a competition series with a great rewatch value, contestants felt differently.
For instance, contestant Sam Larson told More Than Just Surviving that “there are a lot of things that I wish would have made the cut. I went on a multi-day fishing trip where I walked about a mile upriver to catch the spawning salmon. I found them, got one, and lived off of it for a few days. I remember being so proud of that salmon.”
Past Winners Say Mental Training Is Just As Valuable As Physical Training
Some past contestants have given pieces of advice they wish they had received before competing, while others who were more successful on Alone have offered public tips they followed while tapping out later than others. However, both types of former contestants seem to always mention mental preparation.
The mental preparation helped make Alone one of the better survival reality TV shows, because a commonly-cited symptom of a contestant’s experience is missing loved ones and growing homesick. According to KSBY News, season 6 runner-up Woniya Thibeault claimed this was the reason for her tapping out on her birthday. It’s important to note that both the mind and the body have to persevere through the indefinite time.
Safety Items Are Given To Contestants In Case Of Emergency
One factor that should reassure potential contestants is the issuance of emergency safety items. According to The Richest, on top of routine medical checkups, each contestant is given “one air horn, one emergency flare, one canister wild animal repellent, one satellite phone—the brick phone they use to tap out of the contest—one first aid kit (which includes a tourniquet, wadding, ace bandage, alcohol, etc.)…”
But that’s not all. The site continued to say contestants also get “One personal emergency flotation device, one small mirror, a headlamp, a GPS tracking device, and one portion of emergency rations of water and food.”
Items That Aren’t Allowed
Some of the show’s detractors have poked fun at Alone for the considerable number of tools and utilities that contestants are allowed to take on the show. It is worth noting how difficult the depicted experiences are, regardless of the tools, and that many of the allowed items are administered purely for safety precautions.
Some of the BTS secrets about one of History Channel’s best shows is that there is a list of approx. 30 items that aren’t allowed on the show, such as sunscreen, ChapStick, beauty products, decoys, and mosquito repellant.
Expect To Lose Weight
A predominant symptom of Alone contestants is undoubtedly the loss of weight. According to People Alone contestant Alan Kay lost an eye-opening 60 lbs. during his time competing on Vancouver Island. He also mentions how the loss of fat contributed to a tremendous decline in energy.
Medium noted that contestants often advise survivalists to gain weight in preparation for the competition to counter the effects of adjusting one’s digestive cycle. Living off the grid can be a wild experience and the contestants need to be prepared.
Sleep Is Key
Going hand in hand with mental preparation, quality sleep while competing is imperative to success. The side effects of sleep deprivation only lead to trouble in the wilderness, especially when a contestant is solely responsible for acquiring food.
As a result of sleep being so important, contestants need to establish a secure structure and bring a warm, weather-resistant sleeping bag. It is important to check the scores and ratings of a sleeping bag, as well as the climate of the expected destination before committing to a model. There are some fake History Channel shows out there but Alone is as real as it gets when it comes to serving in nature.
