Oblivious Reality Contestants Lived In Wilderness For A Year Despite Show's Cancellation

If you decide to join a reality TV show that involves living in the wilderness and taking part in an experiment, you'd probably hope that someone back home is watching.

After enduring a challenging experience for months, it’s natural to want to share everything you've gone through with people who understand once you get back home.

However, imagine the frustration some reality TV contestants felt when they discovered their show had been abruptly pulled off the air.

Back in 2016, a British reality TV program came up with the idea to send 23 men and women to an isolated part of the Scottish Highlands.

The group were expected to live in the wilderness for a year, completely cut off from contact from the outside world Channel 4

The show was designed to entertain viewers by watching the group attempt to build a new community from scratch.

The Channel 4 show, called Eden, tasked the participants with establishing their own rules and laws, constructing shelters, and growing their own food.

This endeavor was intended to last for a year, during which the participants were completely cut off from contact with the outside world.

Meanwhile, everything was recorded on personal cameras and fixed rigs to capture the ongoing events within the community.

However, despite their ongoing efforts in the wilderness, when the show was unexpectedly taken off the air, the contestants were left in the dark and just continued living out in the wild.

Channel 4 explained the concept in a statement before the show was released: "The appeal of Eden is that it was a real experiment.

"When filming began, we had no idea what the results would be and how those taking part would react to being isolated for months in a remote part of the British Isles."

When contestants returned to the modern world, not only did they realize no one was watching. Channel 4

They added, "That’s why we did it, and the story of their time, including the highs and the lows, will be shown later this year."

The lows turned out to be significant, with 13 of the 23 contestants quitting the show amid reports of sexual jealousy, infighting, bullying, and severe hunger. 

It definitely sounds like they went through a tough time.

Upon returning to the modern world, the contestants faced the shocking realization that their struggles had gone unseen.

They also found out that while they were isolated, significant global events had occurred.

Most notably, the UK had voted for Brexit and Donald Trump had become the President of the United States—both events catching many by surprise.

In an unexpected turn of events, while the show only aired three months of the community's experiences initially, a spin-off show aired a year later.

This show, titled Eden: Paradise Lost, revisited the community and showcased just how things had played out, diving into the remaining footage.