Aurora Native Is Naked And Afraid

Clint Jivoin

Discovery Channel

Clint Jivoin and his Naked and Afraid partner Laura Zerra will appear in the newest episode of the Discovery Channel series on Sunday, July 14 at 10:00 p.m.

Discovery Channel

(Aurora, Ind.) – Clint Jivoin used to bathe in creeks and sleep in his car when he was playing his country music in honky tonks out west a couple years ago.

That experience helped Jivoin, a 25-year-old South Dearborn High School graduate, in his experience starring in an episode of a new Discovery Channel television show called Naked and Afraid.

The show’s premise is a couple strangers, man and woman, being dropped into an inhospitable environment with no clothing and only one tool (of the survival variety, of course). It debuted three weeks ago. Jivoin’s episode will air this Sunday, July 14 at 10:00 p.m.

While still pursuing a country music career, Jivoin is now a survival skills instructor in Anderson, Indiana. He said the show producers came seeking him because of his job. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the nude aspect of the show that worried him.

“I didn’t want to do another fake reality TV show. There are enough of those out there,” Jivoin tells Eagle 99.3. “I was assured that this was going to be an authentic survival situation so I agreed to do it.”

In his episode, Clint is accompanied by Laura Zerra, a 27-year-old survivalist from New Hampshire, in the dense jungle of Panama for 21 unforgiving days. He said having no clothing made the challenge extra difficult.

“Your clothing is your first layer of shelter, not to mention all the tools you can make out of your clothes including cordage and things of that nature,” Jivoin said. “It strips – no pun intended – survival down to the bare essentials.”

However, anyone hoping to get a full look at what the show’s subjects are packing, so to speak, will be disappointed. Outside of butt cheeks, private parts are blurred out when appearing on camera.

Clint said he and Laura had to do everything from making fire with sticks to sourcing their own water. He fashioned a spear to help with taking small game for food. His experience camping in southeast Indiana and out west while touring, in addition to being a professional survival instructor for the past year, helped prepare him for the challenge mentally and physically.

“There’s definitely a learning curve. The things that change are your plants, your animals, the weather climate. But, a lot of the skills are definitely applicable to any scenario anywhere all over the world,” Jivoin said, adding he’s never been outside the United States.

“A lot of it is just a mindset. Knowledge of certain skills and having the mental focus to say, ‘I’m going to get through this.’”

As far as his journey through the jungle of making it in country music, Jivoin is pushing ahead. He is currently working on his third album which could be released in the winter and plans to tour again after the release.

A preview of Jivoin’s episode can be viewed online at http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/naked-and-afraid. WARNING: The preview does show some nudity.