Marysville native braves elements on Discovery’s ‘Naked and Afraid’

What do you say when you’re about to appear on national TV in your birthday suit for an hour?

“I hope the blur guy does a good job,” is how Michael Jefferson put it.

Jefferson, 32, will be on Discovery Channel’s survivalist reality TV show “Naked and Afraid” at 10 p.m. Sunday. On the episode titled “Botswana Breakdown,” he teams up with a female Rhode Island bartender to bare all in the barren plains of Africa.

The strapping Marysville native has done a lot since graduating from Marysville-Pilchuck High School in 2000.

He was a Cosmopolitan magazine dateable bachelor in 2010 and a tribal member on “Survivor: One World” in 2012 before his latest stint as a naked castaway in the wild.

“It’s the wrong path to be going in,” he said.

Jefferson is a nicely dressed banker by day. He works at First Tech Federal Credit Union in Bellevue. Before that, he was at Wells Fargo Bank on Evergreen way in Everett.

Each episode of “Naked and Afraid” has a man and woman exposed to extreme environments.

“Your goal is survive 21 days out there, make your own shelter, fire and food,” he said. “It makes ‘Survivor’ seem like day camp with your buddies.”

The intense day heat, cold nights and a watering hole filled with animal waste, well, that wasn’t all so bad. It’s the little things that cause the big problems.

“The bugs are on you all day and all night,” Jefferson said. “Bees in your ears. Ticks crawling on you. Mosquitoes find you interesting all day and want to hang out on you. The bugs can go wherever they want. At least on ‘Survivor’ you have clothes.”

Jefferson can’t reveal what happens on his episode of “Naked and Afraid.” You’ll have to watch the show.

Andrea Brown: 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @reporterbrown.

In the all together

Michael Jefferson’s episode of “Naked and Afraid” airs at 10 p.m. Sunday on Discovery and repeats at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday and 9 p.m. Sept. 21. For more go to www.discovery.com/tv-shows/naked-and-afraid.