"Most powerful season opener": Naked And Afraid fans are impressed by season 17 premiere

Naked and Afraid returned to the Discovery Channel with a brand new season on February 18, 2024. Season 17 brings strangers together in each episode, striving to survive in some of the harshest locations on earth with nothing but one survival tool.

The format of the reality series features two survivalists, usually a man and a woman, left behind in a grueling location with no clothes. The strangers must work together to procure food, shelter, and water to survive 21 days. The official synopsis of episode 1 reads:

“A hunter and a farmer pool their knowledge to survive 21 days in South Africa. But when the African wildlife proves too stealthy to hunt, the survivalists take a life-threatening risk for food.”

The hunter in question is Cole, a resident of Austin, Texas, and the farmer is Shell, who grew up in a small town in Florida. Naked And Afraid fans loved the duo's teamwork captured in the February 18, episode. A user, @AsianSurvivali1, congratulated Cole and Shell on X writing:

"That has to be the most powerful season opener in the franchise history. Congratulations guys. That was an awesome journey."

A barrage of fans also lauded Cole and Shell's cordial banter, highlighting that the two have set the bar quite high for the upcoming episodes of the season.

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Cole & Shell brave the South African wilderness in Naked And Afraid season 17 episode 1

In a confessional of Naked And Afraid season 17, Cole called his co-partner "cool, level-headed" and "down-to-earth." The only concerning factor that occurred to him was Shell's thin physique. The hunter predicted fatigue would grip her faster, which is exactly what happened, as Shell fumbled her steps owing to weakness. He said:

"She (Shell) works on a farm so I know that her work ethic gotta be strong but she's definitely on the thin side and it worries me because fatigue is I think gonna come for her a lot sooner than it will be for me which means I need to try to keep her fed and healthy."

The Florida native had a good impression of Cole right from the beginning. She told the cameras that partnering with him was nothing less than hitting a "jackpot" for her. She expressed:

"I was hoping my partner would be a bow hunter and he is. He's very experienced and we definitely complement each other's strengths and weaknesses which is exactly what I wanted."

After day 9 in their survival journey, Shell begins to hit rock bottom, admitting to the cameras that the mornings appear to be getting "colder and colder" to her. For Cole, the toughest part of the journey appeared to be sleeping. He conveyed to the cameras,

"Sleeping is actually the suckiest part of all of this. It doesn't matter what you lay down on, it's sandpaper to your a**, like baking on one side and freezing on the other. "

One of the major highlights for fans also appeared to be Cole's attempt to sneak up on a crocodile. Fans seemed impressed with the duo as they took to the internet to hail them praises.

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Naked And Afraid season 17, episode 2, will witness a survivalist coping with menstruation in the middle of the African bush. Titled There Will Be Blood, the new episode will be released on Sunday, February 25 at 8 pm ET/PT on the Discovery Channel.

The newest season of Naked And Afraid is also available to stream on multiple streaming platforms, including Discovery+, Hulu, Fubo TV, and DirecTV Stream.