This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Jeff Zausch is the kind of guy who REALLY wants exposure.Not just on the Discovery Channel series "Naked and Afraid" but in the media. He pitched himself to a variety of media outlets as a story.Zausch is from Idaho, so he's not exactly a local story. And we've got lots of reality-show participants right here in Utah.For those of you who are unfamiliar with "Naked and Afraid," two volunteers - one man, one woman - who have never met before are dropped in the middle of a wilderness with nothing but a camera crew. They have to survive for 21 days.Zausch and Eva Rupert were dropped in Madagascar. (Rupert is from Arizona, another state this is - gasp! - adjacent to Utah.)They are indeed naked. (Although there's judicious editing to manage that.) And they do have times when they are afraid.This is not a competition. They don't win anything. All they get is, ahem, exposure.Lots of people go on reality TV shows because they want their 15 minutes of fame. "Naked and Afraid" participants REALLY want those 15 minutes of fame.Zausch's episode airs on Sunday at 10 p.m. on Discovery, following another original episode at 9 p.m. At 11:17 p.m., Zausch and Rupert talk about their experience in an "After Africa" segment.