When people want to test themselves, they often opt for marathons or solo travel. But those options weren’t enough for strength coach and adventure athlete Alexa Towersey. Instead, the 45-year-old decided to launch herself into the unforgiving, barren landscape of the South African desert, with no food, clothes, or shelter as a participant on Naked And Afraid: Apocalypse.
“I really wanted to see what I was made of when everything else was stripped away,” Alexa tells TV WEEK.
While most people get fixated on the “naked” part of the experience, she says it’s the “least interesting” part.
“It’s really just being stripped away of everything and being completely vulnerable to the elements,” she says. “It brings you back to the mercy of how Mother Nature intended you to be in the first instance.”
It’s not the first time Alexa has put her body and strength of mind to the test. In 2020, she participated in the world’s toughest horse race, the Mongol Derby, and in 2024, she stripped off and survived 21 days in the Colombian jungle for Naked and Afraid season 17.
While her time in Colombia was difficult, it paled in comparison to the challenges she faced in South Africa. Rather than be surrounded by lush rainforest, Alexa and her fellow survivalists were fighting against the blistering sun, bone-chilling temperature drops at night, and the constant threat of wild animals. But the toughest moment was when their camp was hit with a three-day storm.
“We were literally sitting in metal vehicles under a tall tree in a lightning storm,” she explained.
“The crew goes home at night. While we had walkie-talkies for if anything went wrong, we knew if lightning hit us, we were actually screwed.”
Combined with their bodies quickly losing bodyweight, the constant rain and the threat of animal attack if they left camp, Alexa and her teammates felt like there “was no hope left”.
“It was one of those things where when you’ve lived through the worst-case scenario in your head, and you’re still standing, you feel so powerful. It was a defining moment for me.” she shared.
Alexa says that Naked and Afraid: Apocalypse was truly the most challenging thing she’s ever been through.
“This was the hardest thing I have ever done,” she explains. “It was mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually the hardest. I don’t think any part of me left that place untouched.”
Upon reflection, she’s so proud of her mental fortitude.
“I learnt that with the right attitude, you can survive pretty much anything. I always go on about strength training and how it’s prepared me for life. When I feel physically strong, I think strong thoughts. For me, physical strength and being able to leverage physical discomfort prepared me a lot for the experience,” Alexa shares.
“I think you always go into these things hoping you’re a certain type of person, hoping that when a situation arises that you would act a certain way, lean into the suffering and be able to embrace it all. I learnt that I was exactly that type of person. I was the type of person that despite the misery, I could still wakeup with a grin on my face everyday, just happy to be here.”
You can watch Naked And Afraid: Apocalypse on HBO Max.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
