‘Naked and Afraid: Castaways’: Bulent Says Doing Show Was His ‘Hardest’ Challenge Yet
Naked and Afraid’s “bare-handed killer” says the latest version of the survival reality series was no joke. Bulent Gurcan is one of nine people stranded on a deserted island with no tools and no clothes in the new spinoff Naked and Afraid: Castaways. Working in teams of three, they have to survive the tough environment for 21 days before making their way to an extraction point and signaling a ship for rescue.
Bulent is no stranger to Naked and Afraid challenges. He’s completed one 21-day challenge and lasted 40 days in South Africa on Naked and Afraid XL. But he says Castaways was the most difficult yet.
‘Naked and Afraid: Castaways’ was tougher than people realize, Bulent Gurcan says
On a traditional Naked and Afraid challenge, participants have to survive for 21 days with virtually no resources. However, they aren’t totally helpless. While they don’t have food, water, or clothes, each member of the two-person team can bring one survival item, such as a fire starter or a knife, to help them on their journey.
That’s not the case with Castaways. The cast members arrived on the island with absolutely nothing except their burlap bags. To survive, they’re forced to scavenge trash and items from a wrecked plane, jeep, and boat. Making use of those random items requires a lot of ingenuity, Bulent said in a recent video he shared on Instagram.
“This is the hardest challenge that I’ve faced. Because you have to think outside of the box … you have nothing,” he said. “You don’t know where you are. You don’t know where you’re going. It was challenging.”
Though surviving on an uninhabited island in the Pacific was not easy, it was a challenge Bulent relished.
“It definitely pushed me to my outer edges,” he said. “I had to dig deep, find different methods, find different ways of doing things so I could make things happen. It was hard. It was hard. None of these things are easy.”
Bulent says his fellow ‘Naked and Afraid’ participants deserve ‘the most respect’
In his video, Bulent also gave a shout-out to his fellow Naked and Afraid: Castaways participants – and slammed armchair critics who think some cast members don’t deserve to be there.
“Every single person I was in the challenge with deserved a hell of a lot more respect than some of you are giving,” he said.
“It is a very challenging endeavor and the people who took this opportunity to redeem themselves I think deserve the most respect,” he said.
“I applaud them,” he added. “They’re really, really bad*ss people.”
It’s easy to second-guess cast members’ choices from the comfort of your living room, Bulent pointed out. But unless a person actually has “the guts to get out there,” they shouldn’t judge.
“It’s easier to sit on the couch and start barking at the people on TV,” he said.
“I have nothing but admiration” for the rest of the cast, Bulent said. “I’m proud of every single one of them. “
New episodes of Naked and Afraid: Castaways air Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Discovery.
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