Barely surviving: High Point woman to appear on 'Naked and Afraid' reality show

Apr. 6—HIGH POINT — Of all the things to be afraid of on the reality show "Naked and Afraid" — including venomous snakes, wild animals and large, abominable bugs — the one thing Fairland Ferguson wasn't afraid of was, well, being naked.

Whether naked in the jungles of South America or naked on national television — or, in her case, both — she's comfortable in her own skin, and she's not afraid to grin and bare it.

"That was never really a big concern of mine," the 40-year-old High Point woman says of her appearance on "Naked and Afraid," which will air Sunday evening on Discovery.

"There's this moment where you take off all your clothes, and then you walk up and meet your partner, and he's also naked. And about eight seconds later, none of that matters, because it's hot, you have no food, you have no water, and you don't know where you are. The naked part dissipates very quickly."

For the uninitiated, "Naked and Afraid" chronicles the adventures of two survivalists who meet for the first time, naked as jaybirds, and must work together to survive 21 days in the wilderness. Relying solely on their survival skills, they must build a shelter and find food and water, while avoiding such perils as dangerous wildlife, aggressive bugs and heat exhaustion.

For her episode, which was filmed last summer, Ferguson and her partner, Keenan Williams, find themselves somewhere in the jungles of Colombia. They must contend with the possibility of predatory pumas, wild boars and a pit viper species known as the fer-de-lance, one of the most poisonous snakes in the world.

"Just being dropped down into a jungle knowing those animals are present is intimidating," Ferguson says. "It's all great when you watch on TV, but when you're there, it's pretty daunting. Everything becomes very real."

Ferguson, the equestrian director at Shooting Star Horse Farm in Greensboro, has always had an adventurous side. She used to be an equestrian trick rider with Dolly Parton's Stampede and "Cavalia."

She's also done some adventurous modeling, allowing her body to be a human canvas for body painters, which may help explain why she's not afraid of being naked.

While in college, Ferguson decided to jump from a nearly 70-foot cliff into Virginia's Smith Mountain Lake, despite signs prohibiting such a daredevil stunt. As she prepared to jump, though, she slipped and fell off the cliff, breaking 46 bones and nearly dying in the process. The rehab from her injuries, which included 13 surgeries, was grueling.

Still, Ferguson calls her time in the Colombian jungle even more difficult.

"It's the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life — so much harder than you can imagine," she says. "You don't get help. You don't get food. You don't get water. You're just out there on your own, doing the best you can, trying to survive for 21 days."

So does she make it all three weeks?

You'll have to tune in to find out ... and that's the naked truth.

Want to watch? —"Unbreakable," Fairland Ferguson's episode of "Naked and Afraid," will air at 8 p.m. Sunday on Discovery. —The episode will air again at midnight. {related_content_uuid}48f2a85f-0940-4b3a-bb80-f689a26e9239{/related_content_uuid}

Jtomlin@hpenews.com — 336-888-3579