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North Ogden native Trent Nielsen, in a still from a recent episode of the Discovery Channel's "Naked and Afraid."

Discovery Channel

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North Ogden native Trent Nielsen appeared on a recent episode of the Discovery Channel's "Naked and Afraid."

Courtesy photo

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It’s a little like “Gilligan’s Island,” except there’s only two of them — say, the Professor and Mary Ann, or maybe the Skipper and Mrs. Howell.

Oh, and one more thing: They aren’t wearing any clothing.

The Discovery Channel’s “Naked and Afraid” reality series, now in its fourth year, is exactly as advertised. Each episode features a different man and woman, complete strangers, who are stripped of everything — including what they’re wearing — and marooned in a remote wilderness area somewhere in the world. Anything they’ll need or want over the next 21 days — water, food, shelter, fig leaves for the more modest contestants — will have to be found or made.

In the most recent episode of “Naked and Afraid,” which aired on Sunday, North Ogden native Trent Nielsen was paired up with Annie Foley, a farmer’s wife, mother of four and photographer from Essex, Ill. They were to spend three weeks surviving in the jungles of Belize.

Nielsen said he enjoyed himself, and admits the entire experience was a hoot.

“But it’s the hardest, toughest hoot you’ll ever do,” he said. “It’s an amazing experience — once you’re done with it. It’s amazing when it’s over. The premise of the show is they want to create the most raw survival show out there, and your clothes are your No. 1 shelter.”

Nielsen grew up in the mountains and taking care of himself in the wild, so he had no fear going into “Naked and Afraid.” Nielsen’s dad used to take his sons hunting for “everything” when they were little; they spent much of their free time in the mountains.

“When I was 10 years old and my brother was 12, we’d go up in the mountains and camp by ourselves,” Nielsen recalled. “That’s how we grew up. We weren’t neglected by any means, my dad just loved the outdoors, and if we wanted to do something outdoors, he was like, ‘I support you.'”

Courtesy photo

Going in, Nielsen admits the biggest hesitation he had about this reality show was the naked part.

“Honestly, for a split second, it’s ‘Oh my gosh, that would be awkward,'” Nielsen said.

But then what takes over — even more than the people-will-see-me-naked fear — is the fear of being out in the elements.

“They handed us a map and my brain went, ‘OK, being naked is so low on the totem pole right now,” Nielsen said. “We’ve got four hours of light left. We’ve got to get to the top of that mountain and build some shelter. We’re going to be sleeping out here totally naked, we’ve gotta get a fire and figure out firewood ’cause it’s the jungle and everything’s wet.

“All of a sudden the hierarchy of needs takes over and being nude is just a nuisance,” he concluded. “It’s amazing how that psychology works.”

So how does a 45-year-old North Ogden native end up naked in the jungles of Belize? Nielsen originally applied for “Remote Survival,” a reality competition on the National Geographic Channel that involved more clothing.

“That show was canceled,” he said, “but Discovery must have gotten my application. So I thought, ‘Hey, I’m always up for a challenge.'”

On Sunday evening, Nielsen and his family and friends held a “Naked and Afraid” viewing party in a “massive conference room” at the family-friendly All Star Bowling Lanes in Draper.

“Right? Who knew a bowling alley had conference rooms?” Nielsen asked.

About 200 people showed up to the event and during commercial breaks, they’d mute the big-screen TV and Nielsen, who now lives in Murray, answered questions.

On Sunday night, viewers learned that Foley “tapped out of” — or quit — the show just a couple of days in, leaving Nielsen alone for most of the three weeks.

“It was tough when she left,” he said. “That’s you’re number one survival tool, is your partner.”

Nielsen said he never entertained thoughts of quitting.

“Never,” he emphasized. “In fact, the minute she tapped out, I could see in the producer’s eyes, he was going, ‘Oh my gosh, is he going to tap out?’ And I looked right at him and says, ‘I ain’t tapping out.’ I says, ‘They’ll have to drag me off of here dead. …In fact, if I die, and it’s not 21 days, leave me here until day 21 before you drag me off.'”

Nielsen spent much of the time on the show tired, cold, hungry and dehydrated. He lost 22 pounds during the three weeks.

“When it was all over they asked me, why didn’t you leave?” Nielsen recalls. “And I told them there were three reasons: One, I told my kids I wouldn’t tap out. Two, I told my girlfriend I wouldn’t tap out. And three, I told myself I wouldn’t tap out. So why would I tap out? What does that teach me? So when I go home and things start going tough in my life I just run from it? If I go home early, what does that teach my kids?”

During his time alone in the jungle, Nielsen says he was stalked by something crashing around in the jungle around his small shack made of leaves — he could even hear it breathing. Producers never were able to figure out what the animal was.

It brought back memories of an experience Nielsen said he had when he was 10 years old, when residents in North Ogden had reported a number of Bigfoot sightings in the summer of 1980. At one point, the stories recall, a boy sleeping in a tent was — if you can believe it — sat upon by what some believed was a Bigfoot.

Nielsen was that boy.

“We heard something outside our tent,” Nielsen remembered. “We could tell it was on two feet, and we could hear sniffing. Then it laid down on the tent.”

Foley, Nielsen’s partner who left “Naked and Afraid” early, has said she’d like another chance to prove her survival skills on the show. Nielsen said he might do the show again, but he’s not sure he wants to be paired with Foley again.

“I trusted her once, like I did with my two ex-wives,” he quipped. “Now I have trust issues with her.”

Contact Mark Saal at 801-625-4272, or msaal@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @Saalman. Like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SEMarkSaal.