If you follow Naked and Afraid, survival mindset, and real stories about pressure, resilience and adapting when things go sideways, this episode of The Survival Debrief Podcast is worth your time.
In this episode, I sat down with Jesse Lee, an extreme survivalist and still-serving military professional, to talk about her journey through Naked and Afraid. We got into how she first applied for the show, what it was like getting military approval, her first brutal challenge in Colombia, and the redemption challenge in South Africa that finally gave her the finish she wanted.
This is not just a conversation about survival television.
It is a conversation about what happens when:
Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/ogRm0I03Omg
Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/54nUs0mrtA8OYg1zkzgoBY?si=41SWDzLoRJKwO0KprKcyeQ
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-survival-debrief-podcast-with-steven-kelly/id1844233698
More episodes:
https://www.stevenkelly.uk/podcast
One of the strongest parts of this episode is how Jesse got onto the show in the first place.
She explains that she was home on leave, sitting on the sofa with her daughter, watching television, when she saw Naked and Afraid. After a few episodes, a casting advert came on asking if she had what it takes. She applied, forgot all about it, and then got the call around ten months later.
That part alone is a reminder that some big opportunities do not start with a grand plan. Sometimes they start with a random moment and the decision to just go for it.
But because Jesse was still serving full-time in the military, there was another layer to it. She had to go through her chain of command, explain what she wanted to do, and get the right approval to take part. That is not the side of survival TV most people think about, but it matters.
Jesse’s first challenge was in Colombia, and that environment is no joke.
The jungle looks rich in resources from the outside, but that does not mean it is easy. The humidity, the terrain, the isolation, the weather, the insects, and the mental grind all come at you hard. Then add in the fact that her partner left early, and the whole challenge changed shape.
That is one of the reasons this episode is strong.
It shifts from a normal partner survival format into something much more personal. Jesse talks about the moment her partner left, the initial shock and anger, and then the switch she made in her own head:
I have got things to do. I have got to adapt.
That is the bit I respect.
Not some polished motivational line.
Not TV drama.
Just the reality of someone deciding to stop feeling sorry for themselves and get on with what needs doing.
If you want more behind-the-scenes insight into what the show is actually like from my side too, read this:
What Naked and Afraid Is Really Like by British Survivalist Steven Kelly
One thing Jesse talks about clearly is how much never really makes the final cut.
She describes the first night alone as rough. She was struggling with fire, did not have much of a shelter, and had to make a home on top of a huge rock. Then an animal turned up in the night and started pulling down part of what she had built, while she was left trying to defend herself in the dark.
That matters because it gets to the truth of these challenges.
People see the edit.
They do not always see the long, ugly, boring, uncomfortable bits that grind you down.
And survival is often won or lost in those moments.
Not the dramatic bits.
The small repeated ones.
One of the best parts of Jesse’s Colombia challenge was the moment with the little monkey.
It was one of those rare television moments that actually cuts through because it felt real. Jesse explains that she was doing an interview when she noticed movement, looked up, saw the monkey, and then spotted a big bird circling above it. Instead of ignoring it, she started trying to protect it and draw it closer using berries.
Eventually the monkey came to her, and that was the moment people watching connected with.
What made the story even better was what happened afterwards. Jesse explains that the monkey was injured, that she wanted to help it, and that a ranger eventually came out and took it to a rehab facility. Later she found out it was released back into the wild.
That is one of those moments that makes a survival story feel human rather than just hard.
This is where the story really bites.
Jesse got to day 20 in Colombia. She knew she was not feeling right, but she still wanted to push through. She had already planned a two-day extraction because she knew she was weak and did not think she could make the full distance in one push.
Then the weather turned, the situation worsened, and she got trapped in a horrible position dealing with rain, ants, wasps, and a falling body temperature.
When medics checked her, she says her temperature was down around 94 and still dropping. She wanted to stay, but they told her bluntly that she would likely be dead by morning if she did.
That is brutal.
It is also one of the strongest parts of the episode because she talks openly about how hard that was to accept. She says she felt horrible afterwards and did not even feel worthy of the peanut butter they brought her because she had not completed what she set out to do.
That feeling will land with anyone who has ever come close to something and still fallen short.
The good thing is she got another chance.
Jesse went back out for a redemption challenge in South Africa, and this time she came in with a different head on her shoulders. She says the first challenge had been all about I have to do this, while the second had more of a team mindset to it.
That did not mean it was easy.
South Africa brought its own problems:
That part hit her hard too. She explains that he did the right thing, but she was still devastated and had to adjust quickly again. Then she got paired with Jamie, had to find her feet with a completely different personality, and still had to keep pushing.
That is another lesson in itself.
Survival is not just skill.
It is emotional adjustment.
Again and again.
This time, Jesse got the finish.
She talks about finally completing the challenge and feeling redeemed. She says it was worth all the suffering just to be able to say:
I made it. I can do it.
That is the emotional centre of the whole episode.
Because what makes this story useful is not just that she was on TV twice.
It is the arc:
That is a proper survival story.
Yes.
That is another reason I wanted this conversation on The Survival Debrief Podcast.
Jesse says she has already been called a couple of times since, but timing has not worked. She also says she absolutely wants to go again because she still has more goals she wants to tackle.
That tells you a lot about the mindset of someone like this.
It is not just about proving something once.
It is about seeing what else you are capable of.
We also talked about whether she would do Last One Standing.
Her answer was interesting because it shows the split a lot of survivalists feel. On one hand, she likes competition. On the other, she does not like how quickly people can turn on each other. She says she would probably do it, but she would want to keep a decent moral compass while still competing hard if she had to.
That is where this episode gets fun too, because it opens up the wider question of how survivalists see challenge formats differently depending on whether they view them as endurance, teamwork, or all-out competition.
At the end of the episode, Jesse gives simple but solid advice for people wanting to get outside more.
She says:
That is sound advice.
Too many people either overcomplicate the outdoors or underestimate it.
You do not need to make it dramatic.
You just need to respect it.
That is one of the reasons I liked this episode. Even after everything she has done, Jesse still brings it back to the basics.
Talking with Jesse reinforced a few things.
A challenge can go from partnership to solo in a moment.
Some of the hardest parts are the bits viewers never see.
Coming back after falling short says a lot about a person.
It is often the difference between adapting and collapsing.
Know where you are going, respect the conditions, and enjoy the process.
If you want to hear Jesse Lee break down Naked and Afraid, Colombia, South Africa, survival alone, redemption, and what the cameras never fully showed, this is an episode worth watching.
Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/ogRm0I03Omg
Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/54nUs0mrtA8OYg1zkzgoBY?si=41SWDzLoRJKwO0KprKcyeQ
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-survival-debrief-podcast-with-steven-kelly/id1844233698
More episodes:
https://www.stevenkelly.uk/podcast
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