‘Naked and Afraid’ Survivalist Opens Up About Getting Her Period in the Wild [Sneak Peek]
One Naked and Afraid cast member is dealing with an extra complication on an upcoming episode of the Discovery Channel reality series.
Australian survivalist Britt Laidlaw is just a few days into her 21-day challenge in South Africa when she starts menstruating. But she’s not going to let getting her period sideline her, she explains in a sneak peek from the Feb. 25 episode.
‘Naked and Afraid’ survivalist is ‘free bleeding on South Africa’
In the clip, Laidlaw explains that although the arrival of her period has her feeling fatigued, she’s decided to embrace it as a memorable part of her Naked and Afraid experience.
“I feel so incredibly proud with how I’m listening to my body with the need to rest and lay down,” she explains. “I think a lot of people in a survival context would think that having a menstrual cycle out in the wild when you’ve got other sh*t to do would actually be a huge disadvantage, but I’m not out here to combat this place. I’m out here to connect with this place.”
“I also feel like me coming into my menstruation, that ceremony is to give blood in order to receive life from the land,” she adds.
While past Naked and Afraid participants have said that production provides menstrual supplies to those who need them, Laidlaw is going without those items.
“I’m basically having a period without any products like tampons or pads,” she shares. “I know I’m going to tell this story for the rest of my life of free bleeding on South Africa, the motherland,” she said. “I’m taking it as a real blessing.”
Britt’s partner struggles to pick up the slack in the next ‘Naked and Afraid’
While Britt listens to her body’s cues, Sara Kunz, her partner on the international tribes challenge, is left to pick up the slack.
“I have one thing on my mind and that’s food,” Sara, who is from Hawaii, says in another clip from the episode. “I recognize the struggle Britt has between getting things done and allowing her body to rest, but I think as a team, we need to take food more seriously.”
When a “physically really weak” Britt heads down to the water to refresh herself, she startles an antelope that her partner has been tracking. Sara struggles to contain her frustration.
“I hear my partner. There just can’t be anything here when it’s hunting time. There’s just no way it’s gonna work,” Sara says just before the animal darts off. “Yup. There, I just saw him f*cking run away.”
Naked and Afraid airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Discovery Channel. Episodes also stream on Max.
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