‘Alone’: The Winners of Every Season on The History Channel Show and How Long They Lasted
The reality TV series Alone has a massive 10 seasons and two spinoffs on the History Channel. In each regular season, 10 contestants compete at a chance for $500,000. The producers drop participants in a remote location where they must survive alone. The person who lasts the longest wins the grand prize. Although there are now nine Alone winners, not all stayed the same number of days. Take a look at the nine Alone winners and how many days they made it in the wilderness.
[WARNING: This article contains spoilers regarding Alone Seasons 1-10 winners.]
‘Alone’ Season 1 winner: Alan Kay
Alan Kay won the first season of Alone on The History Channel, lasting 56 days at the age of 40. He lost over 60 pounds during his time in the wilderness. He mainly ate limpets and seaweed but consumed mussels, crab, fish, and slugs. The producers dropped the first 10 participants of the show in the Quatsino Territory in Northern Vancouver Island, Canada. The area is so remote that it is only accessible by boat or a float plane. Season 1 is the only installment of Alone to include only men.
‘Alone’ Season 2 winner: David McIntyre
In the second season of Alone, David McIntyre lasted 66 days at the age of 50. Season 2 also had the person who had the shortest stay ever on Alone — Desmond White. The location remained the same for season 2 — Quatsino Territory again. David is a post-apocalyptic fiction writer who lives in Michigan.
McIntyre admitted that the first month was the hardest, He revealed he lost 35 pounds in less than six weeks of being on Alone.
‘Alone’ Season 3 winner: Zachary Fowler
Zachary Fowler won Alone Season 3 after surviving for 87 days at age 36. By the time he won, he had lost 70 pounds, which was a third of his initial body weight. Season 3 marked the first time the medical team pulled a contestant out of the game for medical reasons. It also took place in a new location — Patagonia, Argentina, in South America.
The producers dropped the contestants at several different lakes in the foothills of the Andes Mountain range. Fowler lives a self-sufficient lifestyle with his wife and two daughters in a hand-built yurt.
‘Alone: Lost and Found’ Season 4 winners: Ted and Jim Baird
The Alone Season 4 winners, Ted and Jim Baird, lasted 75 days at the ages of 32 and 35, respectively. For Alone: Lost and Found, the producers created a new twist on the original game. They selected seven family member teams to drop in the original location in Quatsino Territory.
However, they spread the players out more because the partners had to find each other in the game’s early days. The producers dropped one contestant near a beach and the other 10 miles away. They also had to split their gear between the two people, only having everything they needed once they reunited.
‘Alone: Redemption’: Season 5 winner: Sam Larson is the youngest of all the winners
For Alone: Redemption, The History Channel producers added another twist to the game. They chose the 10 participants from the pool of non-winners from seasons 1 through 4. Sam Larson won Alone Season 5 after lasting 60 days in Northern Mongolia, Asia, at the age of 24. He remains the youngest person ever to win Alone. Sam previously competed in Alone Season 1 and came in second place.
‘Alone: The Arctic’ Season 6 winner: Jordan Jonas
In Alone Season 6, Jordan Jonas won after surviving 77 days (at the age of 35). Although the season was titled Alone: The Arctic, the producers dropped the 10 contestants in the Northwest Territories of Canada, about 250 miles south of the Arctic Circle. Jordan was the first contestant to kill big game during the show by taking down a moose.
‘Alone: Million Dollar Challenge’ Season 7 winner: Roland Welker
Roland Welker (age 47) was the only participant to last 100 days in Alone Season 7. The producers put a new twist on the show by changing the survivalists’ goal. Instead of outlasting all the other players, their goal was to survive 100 days in the east arm of Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada. There could be multiple winners or no winners at all. However, Roland was the only one to make it 100 days.
‘Alone: Grizzly Mountain’ Season 8 winner: Clay Hayes
The show switched back to the original rules in Alone: Grizzly Mountain. Clay Hayes survived the longest, 74 days, at the age of 40. However, it was set in a new location: Chilko Lake, British Columbia. The lake is a 40-mile-long glacial lake over 3800 feet above sea level. Alone Season 8 is the only installment still available on Netflix. Clay also appears in the spinoff, Alone: The Skills Challenge.
‘Alone’ Season 9 winner: Juan Pablo Quiñonez
Juan Pablo Quiñonez won Alone Season 9 after surviving 78 days at the age of 30. The History Channel teased the location as “one of the harshest weather conditions yet.” The producers dropped participants in the Nunatsiavut region of Northern Labrador in Eastern Canada along the Big River. The climate is wet and snowy, with a dense spruce-fir forest.
‘Alone’ Season 10 winner: Alan Tenta
Alan Tenta won Alone Season 10, which took place on Saskatchewan’s Reindeer Lake. The 52-year-old high school teacher from British Columbia triumphed over nine other skilled survivalists thanks to his strong outdoor skills and impressive mental fortitude. While he was confident he was doing well in the competition, he had no idea he was about to be declared the winner when the show’s team arrived for a medical check on day 66.
“I can’t describe to you the emotions that went through my body when my wife snuck up behind me and we embraced,” he said in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Tenta Outdoors. “Oh my gosh, it was one of the happiest times in my entire life.”
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in August 2022 and had been updated.
