‘Alone’ Cast Member Woniya Thibeault Wrote a Book About Her Experience on the History Channel Show
Woniya Thibeault made TV history when she became the first woman to win an Alone challenge. The 45-year-old ancestral skills teacher from Grass Valley, California, spent 50 days on her own on the frigid Atlantic coast of Labrador, Canada, in the 2022 Alone spinoff Alone: Frozen. She outlasted five other seasoned Alone vets and walked away with the show’s $500,000 grand prize.
Woniya Thibeault came in second in ‘Alone’ Season 6
Thibeault’s Alone: Frozen victory came after her memorable appearance on Alone Season 6, which took place in Canada’s Northwest Territories on the shores of Great Slave Lake. She survived 73 days in the Arctic in that season, which aired on History Channel in 2019. Thibeault came close to winning it all, but she ultimately decided to tap out due to starvation. (Season 6 winner Jordan Jonas went home a few days after Thibeault, having lasted 77 days.)
“I’ve loved being here with every fiber of my being and I don’t really want to leave. But my body’s done,” she said when the extraction team arrived to pick her up.
Thibeault said she made the tough choice to put her health above taking home the life-changing half-a-million-dollar prize.
“We live in this culture that puts winning and puts money on top of everything,” she said. “So to make a choice to let go of the idea of that in favor of self-care, that’s the message that I want to leave here with.”
Thibeault reflects on her experience in her new book ‘Never Alone’
Thibeault’s Alone journey captivated viewers. It also changed her life. She reflects on the experience in her memoir, Never Alone: A Solo Arctic Survival Journey. It was released in June 2023.
In the book, Thibeault “shares how months of starving by herself in the Arctic wilderness brought more healing than suffering.” It also “led to a deep sense of belonging and peace,” according to the description from Amazon. Her story “affirms the incredible strength of the human spirit and shows us that strength comes in many surprising forms. Never Alone’s message is one of inspiration and learning to trust in ourselves and the land around us; embracing the wild and being wholly and beautifully human, flaws and all.”
The book offers more insight into Thibeault’s survival background and why she said yes when someone from Alone approached her about being on the show. She also discusses how she prepared for her time in the wild and shares behind-the-scenes moments that didn’t make it to TV. (However, there are some details she can’t share because of the non-disclosure agreement she signed.)
‘“There is far more to a solitary survival experience like mine than can ever be captured on film or shared in a few short episodes,” she writes in the preface. “Most people see the show as a competition or a wilderness adventure, but it’s infinitely greater than either of those – a true rite of passage.”
Thibeault hopes that her book gives readers a better idea of what it’s really like to participate in Alone.
“My goal with the book was to do everything I could to bring the readers there with me to vicariously experience all I did, she shared on Instagram. “From the grueling struggles to the mind-boggling magic and joy,”
Never Alone is available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers.
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