Naked and Afraid's wild Kiwi twins reflect on their reality show ordeal

Posted by Delta Gatti on Monday, May 13, 2024

Fan favourites on reality show Naked and Afraid, Amber and Serena Shine have been asked to return for a Shark Week special. Photo / Michelle Hyslop

Being stranded naked on a deserted island within the Bermuda Triangle and competing for meals with hungry sharks would possibly sound like a nightmare to maximum, however for Kiwi twins Amber and Serena Shine, it was once just another day on the place of job. Well, kinda.

The 30-year-old sisters – from Waiuku, in rural Auckland – had already seemed on Discovery Channel series Naked And Afraid in 2019, residing off scorpions, and being stalked via leopards and hyenas while spending 21 days without clothes in remote northern South Africa.

So when, in early 2020, the community asked them to go back to the show, residing on a tropical island for two weeks for a Shark Week special, they couldn’t withstand saying yes once more.

“We’re in reality pretty conservative, so the idea of being naked on TV didn’t attraction to us in any respect once we have been first approached,” admits Serena, who's the owner-operator of Glam Camping at Castaways Resort.

“We actually thought it used to be a rip-off and neglected the messages in the beginning,” laughs civil engineer Amber.

But when the adventurous pair – who call themselves “The Wild Twins” on social media – in spite of everything made up our minds to appear into the series, they realised its popularity in the United States and sooner or later their minds began to switch.

“After staring at a few episodes, we saw how a lot of a survival aspect the naked part of it is,” explains Amber. “It just makes the whole lot that a lot harder.”

While seeing her sister stark naked wasn’t essentially the most comfortable concept, Serena says they quickly forgot about their appearance when the challenge started.

“We’re shut, however we’d never been naked round every other!” she laughs. “When we first stripped off, I was like, ‘OK, here we pass!’ But there are such a lot of bigger things going on. Instantly, we were so targeted on surviving, finding water and looking meals.”

In Africa, the duo used to be ravaged by thorns, and compelled to sleep on grime and gravel that left their shoulders and hips bruised. At one level, an elephant invaded their campsite in the midst of the night and they had to scare it away by banging a cooking pot.

Every resolution required further making plans as a result of they had to protect their naked bodies. But in the event that they idea their tropical island break out a yr later may well be slightly more straightforward on their naked pores and skin, they had been unsuitable!

Serena continues, “We had two other contestants with us for this 2nd show, which used to be slightly other. And for the first five days, Amber and I had been on separate islands. I used to be the fortunate person who needed to maintain mosquitoes on my island. It used to be out of this international. I’ve never experienced anything else adore it!”

The different contestant on Serena’s island ended up going into anaphylactic surprise because of the severity of his bites. She tells, “There was once no escaping it. We would try to get in the water, but they’d nonetheless chunk our face and then sooner or later, at night time, it was once just too chilly to be in the water. It was once absolute torture.”

Catching their meals become the following big challenge. “The best position to get food used to be within the water and as soon as you got in, it was once simplest minutes earlier than the sharks came – we needed to be repeatedly on guard,” recollects adrenaline junkie Amber.

“We made spears out of sticks and, if a shark got close to, we would cling that out in entrance folks to deter them. But there were a variety of instances the place they might knock or brush up in opposition to the stick, which gave us a hell of a fright!”

Thankfully, they did arrange to assemble somewhat a large number of kaimoana. Sabrina laughs, “It was once the best seafood I’ve had in my existence! One day, we even controlled to catch an octopus.”

However, sharing foods and arduous themselves to catch food meant they lost over 7kg each and every – the exact same quantity they dropped all over the African challenge.

Returning to commonplace life after filming was once onerous on each events, however in particular after the Shark Week special, which saw them go back home to Waiuku just a week prior to Aotearoa’s first lockdown.

Now the border’s been shut for over than a year, the twins have come to realize their international adventures much more.

Serena explains, “I’ve by no means regretted either revel in. I indubitably had points the place I thought, ‘What am I doing here?’ But it’s all the time going to be a memory I treasure – and as a result of Covid stopping us from going overseas, it makes us treasure the ones memories that a lot more.

“There had been so many wonderful moments with both displays. I bear in mind sooner or later we sat down at a watering hollow at sundown, and it used to be unbelievable looking at the entire elephants, giraffes and zebras are available. You just don’t get that any place else.”

Both challenges have endlessly modified how they have a look at the arena. Amber smiles, “It really makes you recognize the small things in existence – like beds and going to the pantry to get food!”

As for their next problem? Amber and Serena are currently retaining issues a bit of extra on the safe aspect as they take on writing their first book, due to be released later this year.

But relating to the possibility of any other naked challenge, the women smile and simply say, “Never say by no means!”

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