After Naked and Afraid XL cast member Terra Short was criticized for their behavior on a recent episode of the Discovery Channel reality series, Link came to their defense. Link pointed out that aspects of Terra’s experience as a transgender/nonbinary person likely informed their reaction to feeling excluded by some of the other cast.
Terra Short felt left out in a recent episode of ‘Naked and Afraid XL’
Terra’s tough moment came in the June 23 episode of Naked and Afraid XL. After Terra’s group joined forces with the other remaining survivalists, the women set about catching a caiman. When they finally got lucky early one morning, they celebrated loudly. Terra couldn’t help but feel left out.
“Being trans/nonbinary, I guess I’m just used to feeling like the outcast in my life,” Terra said in an interview. “And I feel like once again, that’s the direction this is taking on. So, I’m still pretty bummed. We’ll see what happens.”
Terra had trouble hiding their feelings about the incident. That led Lynsey McCarver to pull her fellow survivalist aside for a heart-to-heart chat.
“I felt alone. I felt excluded. I felt like no one gave a f*ck that I was still here,” Terra explained. Hearing the female cast members “hootin and hollerin” about the caiman catch was “the icing on the cake” in terms of feeling left out, they added.
“I don’t want you to feel that way,” Lynsey said.
The two then hugged it out, which left Terra feeling better and realizing she might need to adjust how she responded to certain situations.
“Lynsey and I are still a good happy family … I’m not here to be a selfish human. I think that I’m gonna do better,” Terra said.
Dan Link says Terra’s feelings about being ‘the odd person out’ resonated with him
Some Naked and Afraid viewers were critical of Terra’s emotional reaction to the caiman incident. That prompted Link, who has appeared on Naked and Afraid and well the spinoffs XL, and Last One Standing , to come to Terra’s defense.
“I get the comments and agree it could have been better,” Link wrote in a Facebook post. “That said, I also understand Terras background in life and where they’re coming from which is important to consider. They articulated their feelings perfectly as well and came to a quick resolution which says a lot.”
“When Terra spoke about being trans/non-binary and feeling like the odd person out throughout their life, that resonated. I’ve seen that happen plenty with others in similar situations … Even though I don’t think being trans had anything to do with this particular situation, when you live the life they have it can be difficult to parse out social situations sometimes which can cause issues in your relationships that you have to work through,” he added.
Link went on to say that understanding where Terra was coming from, it made it easier to understand their reaction and give them “some grace … especially considering, again, that they own up to it all and work through it immediately.”
Terra appreciated the support from a Naked and Afraid legend.
“I love you,” they wrote in response to Link’s post.
Terra Short says ‘Naked and Afraid XL’ was their ‘most difficult challenge’
In the Naked and Afraid XL season finale, which aired June 30, Terra reflected on how special it was to reach the finish line with their seven remaining teammates.
“I’ve been through some really difficult stuff in my life. I’ve been through some really painful stuff in my life. And usually alone,” they said. “But 40 days out here, this is the most difficult challenge I’ve ever had to do.”
“But when you find people that are your tribe and you can feel that love from strangers that you’ve only known for the last 40 days now, that can help you, help me, to survive out here,” Terra added. “I feel like I’ve learned that no matter how bad it gets, it’s better if you keep your morale high and get through the challenge together as a tribe.”
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