Who are Brett Gatten and Esther Sanderlin? Race To Survive: Alaska couple are set to use their “wilderness survival skills”

Race to Survive: Alaska is set to premiere next week and will feature multiple teams as they compete against each other in some of the harshest conditions that the Alaskan coastline has to offer.

The teams will attempt to climb mountains, overcome hardships, and endure “more than 100 miles of inhospitable terrain” to win a grand prize of $500,000.

Set to compete on the show are Brett Gatten and Esther Sanderlin who met on a dating app after they both got divorced. USA Network describes them as fishing and hunting experts.

Their bio states:

"They quickly bonded over their love of the outdoors and adventure, and their wilderness survival skills made them a perfect match."

Tune in on Monday, April 3, ar 11 pm ET to watch the season premiere of Race to Survive: Alaska.

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Meet Brett and Esther ahead of their appearance on Race to Survive: Alaska

The upcoming survival reality show will feature 16 contestants who will compete in teams of two for six weeks in order to win $500,000. One of the teams set to compete in the show consists of Brett Gatten and Esther Sanderlin.

Esther grew up in Skwenthna and last year, she along with Brett took part in a Turkey Drop on Thanksgiving. A Turkey Drop is essentially dropping a Turkey for people in remote communities over the holidays and was inspired by a man named Kenny Hughes who was famously known as the flying missionary and the Turkey Bomber.

She grew up flying and took lessons as a teenager since she was homeschooled. She earned her license in her 20s and finished rebuilding her first airplane with her father in 2020. The “all-black Stinson aircraft” is named Stealth.

The Race to Survive: Alaska cast member said while in a conversation with Frontiersman.com that she flies while her boyfriend bombs the turkeys, and when they see the families in their yards, they drop the turkeys and hope to be able to the same over Christmas with hams.

She said:

"We have 30 hams and chocolate turtles ready to go, but the weather has beene extremely cold, making it hard to know when for sure we will make our drop. I really want to get these out before Christmas, but we may have to wait until after, depending on how the weather looks."

Brett Gatten is associated with Mammut Expeditions and Adventures, a travel organization, while Esther is a realtor, pilot, and mother.

The contestants took to social media to share promotional clips of the upcoming USA Network show and during the clip, Esther said that it takes a lot to prepare for the experience and that they’ll win Race to Survive: Alaska because their minds are strong enough to believe that and know it.

Brett added:

"It’s not that we’re cocky. We’ve just been preparing for this kind of stuff our whole life."

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More about the show

Race to Survive: Alaska will pit eight teams against each other in an outdoor competition that is set in Alaska.

During the six weeks that the contestants will be there, they will go through “the harshest Alaskan landscapes, having to source their own food and water while charting their own path on previously unexplored terrain” according to the press release. The teams will compete in six races and at the end of each race, whoever finishes last, leaves the show.

Tune in on Monday, April 3, at 11 pm ET to watch the season premiere of Race to Survive: Alaska on USA Network.