Extracted on Fox is a groundbreaking survival competition that pushed contestants to their limits while still prioritizing safety behind the scenes.
The upcoming series, which premieres on Monday, February 10, follows a dozen untrained competitors as they face extreme conditions in the Canadian wilderness. The contestants’ families watch them via a live feed and can decide if their loved one can stay in the competition or should be removed for their own safety.
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, survival consultant and adventurer Megan Hine opened up about the work that went on behind the scenes. Hine specifically broke down her role as Head of Extraction.
“I dropped the survivalists out in the terrain and then I’m standing by. I’ve got access to all the cameras and I can watch in and see who might be getting extracted. Then when the family member presses the extracted button, we have to act really quickly,” Hine explained. “I have to go in and get them out, which logistically at times is quite challenging as to where the survivalist was in the environment.”
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Hine has both physical and psychological factors to consider.
“The survivalist has no idea that they’re going to be extracted. They’ve got no communication with their family members back at the headquarters,” she continued. “So they don’t know that they’re going to be extracted. They don’t know the family member is going to press the button. The first thing that they might be aware of is the sound of the helicopter coming in.”
Extracted is one of many survival shows entertaining Us from the comfort of our own homes. Hine broke down the reason why Extracted, Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test and more are so intriguing.
“On a basic level, we like watching other people suffer. It makes us feel better but it is addictive,” she quipped. “I’m fascinated with the psychology of survival as well as the physical act of survival. But with the psychology of it, it’s so much easier to trigger fear and anxiety than it is joy and happiness. These shows have you invested in the character because you can understand and empathize. You are actually able to put yourself into that position.
Keep scrolling for exclusive details from Hine about behind-the-scenes details:
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Hine discussed the conversations that were always happening regarding the wellbeing of each contestant, telling Us, “The whole premise of this was that we were working with a cast who had very little outdoor and survival experience. There is an element with the duty of care. From my side with the safety part, this is what I’ve been doing behind the scenes on shows like this for over 20 years now. There are signs and symptoms, and you’re constantly watching out.”
She continued: “What was great about this was the technology of it was so advanced that we are live streaming. I could check in any point on anyone, and they’re wearing watches where their biometric data is being uploaded so I can check in on their body health. We are keeping an eye on them and just making sure that we are pushing them to their limits — but it’s not fatal.”
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Where There Outside Factors Production Didn’t See Coming?
“It was groundbreaking technology on the show where the families at headquarters have access to the cameras all day so they can check out their survivalist,” Hine shared. “We had these robotic cameras out in the field that were attached to trees or roaming and they could check in on that.”
Hine praised the equipment for allowing them to be prepared.
“It was all the technology that had fine tuning when the weather was changing. It had to be able to deal with cold wet heat at times as well,” she told Us. “Because of the change of the seasons, we went from it being quite warm through to snow and things.”
Were There Any Concerns?
“Absolutely. Although the family has got to make the decision on whether their survivalist was extracted out of the environment, obviously we’ve got the survivalists that are in a very real situation,” she admitted.” It’s cold, there is wind and it is wet. You’ve got hypothermia — which is one of the biggest threats out there.”
Hine added: “There is a point where blood starts leaving your brain and going into your core cognitive function. Your brain starts shutting down and we see people starting to make strange decisions. We’re constantly looking out for that as well so that we know where they are just in case we need to go in and get them.”
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Despite the brutal conditions, production was always aware of what was going on in case they needed to break the fourth wall.
“The contestants were as much as possible left to their own devices,” Hine said. “We do always have a psychologist in the background, just in case. That is always a requirement and that’s duty of care. But the cast are aware of what they’ve signed up for and they’re there to play a game.”
The lived experience from Extracted is meant to show the contestants what they are made of.
“It’s all about resilience and the power of adventure. When I talk to the cast afterwards, they might be worried about how they came off onscreen or what they did. But [I suggest they] forget about all of that,” she shared. “They have genuinely been out there for weeks on end by living off berries, drinking lake water and with no sleeping bag. They have survived. That is seriously badass.”
Hine added: ”It puts everything into perspective. I think coming off the back of that, it’s incredibly empowering to know that you’re capable of doing that, and you can spend so much time alone as well. It’s building resilience and then teamwork as well. That dynamic has typically brought people closer together.”
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Why Canada?
Extracted features 12 untrained competitors from America, so how did they end up in the Canadian wilderness?
“When you’re looking for locations for shows like this, you are looking for places that will allow survival activities. We want to make fires and we want to be able to hunt,” Hine explained. “The Canadian wilderness is so vast and there’s ways of working there that in other locations — such as national parks in the U.S. — that are very, very difficult to film a show like this in.”
She continued: “Because you can’t make fires and you certainly can’t hunt the wildlife. Those are all the things that go on behind the scenes. There’s all of this logistics and preparation and things that have to be thought about as well.”
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“These people have got very little experience, but yet they’re able to improvise. What makes a good survivalist is somebody that can draw on skills or experiences from other avenues of life,” Hine noted. “[It is important to] be able to think outside of the box. But certainly beforehand — if you knew that you were going to be cast for something like this — get yourself out there and feel what it’s actually like to be in that environment.”
While reflecting on her own experience, Hine suggested some skills worth knowing for shows such as Extracted.
“The American military has a generalized rule of threes. That means three minutes without air, three hours without shelter, three days without water and three weeks without food. Obviously this is a huge generalization but that is essentially how long your body can go without those things,” she told Us. “So you’ve just been dropped off into this wilderness environment. How are you going to shelter yourself? The night is coming and it’s starting to get dark. There is also wildlife out there and there’s rain clouds in the distance. You’ve got to use the resources that are out there in the terrain.”
