Eva Outram on how a survival TV show changed her life
What would it take for you to give up your office job for the great outdoors? For Eva Outram; surviving 23 days all alone in Canadian wilderness
Imagine hacking through the forest, unsure where your next meal is coming from, far from civilisation and the trusty foraging books or internet we all rely on. It’s not the relaxing foraging wander many of us are used to. But, armed with a camera and an axe, Eva Outram, 26, learned everything she knows from being thrown in the Canadian wilderness for reality TV.
Eva was working for the NHS as a project manager when she was headhunted in 2022 for the UK series of the American hit TV show Alone, which aired in 2023. The premise is to send 11 contestants into remote Canadian forest with basic tools and knowledge. They must survive completely on their own, filming the entire experience with a handheld camera. The last one standing wins £100,000.
Originally thinking the offer seemed too good to be true, Eva refused to participate. But the show’s producer’s persistence led her to meetings with Channel 4 and eventually, she was flown out to the Canadian wilderness.
The production company identified her through a new-found hobby – posting Instagram content from hikes. Before Covid, Eva was an avid traveller, but in the face of pandemic restrictions and travel complications, she found a way to get that travel kick without leaving the UK.
Posting on her hikes and camping trips, she was able to share the beautiful scenery near her home in Leeds. “I got really into solo hiking and wild camping. I was no expert though, but the show wanted people who had an interest in wilderness but didn’t know too much,” she says. Admitting she initially said no to the opportunity, she says: “I was trying to buy a house and go on holiday. When they could tell me more about the show, I thought ‘a free trip to Canada sounds great.’”
Due to agreeing to participate late, Eva was the game show’s reserve, in case someone had to drop out. Unfortunately, in the very first episode, fellow contestant Mike sustained an injury when he cut his leg with an axe.
She was flown in from the sidelines and, while she did not win, she survived for 23 days in the wilderness completely alone. She was taught how to avoid bear attacks, how to deal with harsh conditions, and, importantly, how to hunt and forage her own food.
She says, “It was a mad scramble trying to text my mum to say, ‘I’m actually not home in two days and I don’t know when I’ll see you next’. It was epic, and also really awful. I think people tend to forget sometimes a once-in-a-lifetime experience and the most memorable thing you’ll ever do, can also be one of the most traumatic.”
“I was trying to buy a house and go on holiday. When they could tell me more about the show, I thought ‘a free trip to Canada sounds great.’”
While the experience was extremely difficult for Eva, it pushed her to make life-changing decisions when she returned to the UK. She quit her NHS desk job to become a full-time outdoor instructor, teaching foraging and bushcraft skills.
“I kind of fell into the NHS by accident. Coming back from Alone I was like ‘Ah, I need to make a change,’” she says.
It wasn’t until Alone she started looking into foraging properly for survival. She had to become an overnight expert on foods that can be found in the wild to avoid starving. She now shares her knowledge through her company and online social media content.
She says, “You’d be so surprised how many edible plants are around us all the time. As soon as you start researching you see it everywhere, growing through the pavements, in the supermarket car park, in the park. Aside from spotting stuff that’s edible, the thing that I love about foraging the most is how it connects people to their surroundings.”
She stresses that, like any hobby, when foraging you have to build up your knowledge and experience before trying any of the more challenging foraged foods. She advises, “Make sure that your resources are reputable. There are a few really good books, like Food for Free and The Forager’s Calendar. If it’s a published resource, I’d say it’s more trustworthy.”
While she had to become a bit of an expert overnight on Alone, you don’t have to and she encourages people to start small and build up to more skilled forages like mushrooms. “Just start really simple, like nettles. There are a few different plants that don’t have any real lookalikes, so just start with the easy ones until you can build up your knowledge.”
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