Imagine if Jeff Probst, host of the CBS reality series Survivor, dropped a batch of contestants on Vanuatu—and didn’t bother to tell or release them after the parent company cancelled the show.
According to Esquire, that’s exactly what happened to the poor souls who signed on for Scottish reality show Eden.
The premise of the show was to have 23 contestants live in a remote part of Scotland and form a new, functional community from next to nothing for an entire year. Filming began in March 2016 but stopped just five months later in August due to poor ratings.
However, that didn’t keep Channel 4 from continuing to film or telling its would-be reality stars. Thirteen of the show’s contestants did drop out before the show ended, but 10 stuck around for the entire year, living on the western coast of Scotland on a highly secluded estate that used to be a World War II training site.
Channel 4, who shot the show, explained their reasoning to The Guardian for continuing to shoot the show, despite a complete blackout of viewership:
“The appeal of Eden is that it was a real experiment and 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. That’s why we did it and the story of their time, including the highs and the lows, will be shown later this year.”
Watch a trailer for the show below.
—RealClearLife
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