Of all the things to be afraid of on the reality show “Naked and Afraid” — including venomous snakes, wild animals and large, abominable bugs — the one thing Fairland Ferguson wasn’t afraid of was, well, being naked.
Whether naked in the jungles of South America or naked on national television — or, in her case, both — she’s comfortable in her own skin, and she’s not afraid to grin and bare it.
“That was never really a big concern of mine,” the 40-year-old High Point woman said of her appearance on “Naked and Afraid” Sunday evening on Discovery. “There’s this moment where you take off all your clothes, and then you walk up and meet your partner, and he’s also naked. And about eight seconds later, none of that matters, because it’s hot, you have no food, you have no water, and you don’t know where you are. The naked part dissipates very quickly.”
“Naked and Afraid” chronicles the adventures of two survivalists who meet for the first time, naked as jaybirds, and must work together to survive 21 days in the wilderness. Relying solely on their survival skills, they must build a shelter and find food and water while avoiding such perils as dangerous wildlife, aggressive bugs and heat exhaustion.
For her episode, which was filmed last summer, Ferguson and her partner, Keenan Williams, were put somewhere in the jungles of Colombia to contend with the possibility of predatory pumas, wild boars and a pit viper species known as the fer-de-lance, one of the most poisonous snakes in the world.
“Just being dropped down into a jungle knowing those animals are present is intimidating,” Ferguson said. “It’s all great when you watch on TV, but when you’re there, it’s pretty daunting. Everything becomes very real.”
Ferguson, the equestrian director at Shooting Star Horse Farm south of Greensboro, has always had an adventurous side. She used to be an equestrian trick rider with Dolly Parton’s Stampede and “Cavalia.”
She has also done some adventurous modeling, allowing her body to be a human canvas for body painters, which may help explain why she’s not afraid of being naked.
While in college, Ferguson decided to jump from a nearly 70-foot cliff into Virginia’s Smith Mountain Lake, despite signs prohibiting such a daredevil stunt. As she prepared to jump, though, she slipped and fell off the cliff. She broke 46 bones and nearly died. The rehab from her injuries, which included 13 surgeries, was grueling.
Still, Ferguson calls her time in the Colombian jungle even more difficult.
“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life — so much harder than you can imagine,” she said. “You don’t get help. You don’t get food. You don’t get water. You’re just out there on your own, doing the best you can, trying to survive for 21 days.”
