INTERVIEW: New couple heads to southern Mexico on ‘Men Women Wild’

Southern Mexico is the destination for Linn Baumgardt and Max Levi, a dating couple currently featured on Discovery Channel’s Men Women Wild. After another pair couldn’t last for the entire challenge, Baumgardt and Levi took center stage, and it proves to be a unique storyline because at the time of their survival challenge, they were only dating for approximately one year. Searching for food, water and shelter is not exactly a typical date, but these new reality stars are going to make a go for it.

“It happened totally by accident,” Levi said about their entry on the show. “The whole experience kind of fell into our lap. They were, I guess, sourcing for the show, sourcing talent, and they were having a hard time finding a couple that would be crazy enough to do something like this. … [The producer] gave us a call. We were actually vacationing in Thailand when that happened, so we ended up speaking to some of the folks over at the production company while we were on vacation … And the rest is history.”

Baumgardt said they only found out about the adventure four days before departure for Mexico. “So everything was really last minute, including the location,” she said.

On the new reality series, partners — some married, some dating — head to the far reaches of the planet to thrive and survive off the land. Recently, Hollywood Soapbox interviewed the couple that headed for Norway. The show airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on Discovery Channel.

Levi and Baumgardt faced some difficult obstacles in Mexico, but they were also secretive about the details, not wanting to ruin the surprises for audience members.

“I mean the obvious stuff is very difficult — the heat, the humidity, a few other things,” Levi said. “Of course, the food, it’s really tough to find food in an area that you’re not familiar with. You expect the jungle to be teeming with life, and there to be just tons of fish in the water, and all of this other stuff to eat, but the reality of it is quite different. … The biggest challenge for me, and I can’t speak for Linn, but for me it was the psychological, the difficulty of leaving my work on such a short notice and the fear that my employer wouldn’t take me back. That stuff really took a toll on me.”

Baumgardt said one challenge they endured that is portrayed well on Men Women Wild is their efforts to keep dry during monsoon season. “There’s nothing dry there, nothing, which makes it extremely hard to make fire, and without fire, you know, you can’t really cook or boil any food that you might find, which is what you should do,” Baumgardt said. “So that makes it really hard. Fire obviously also keeps the insects away, the smoke does, and not having one is not good.”

In their personal lives, away from the cameras, the couple is active outdoors, and these experiences helped prepare them for the difficult tasks in the jungle. But because they didn’t know where their journey would take them, there was no way to anticipate the trials and tribulations.

“Well, it’s a struggle no matter how well prepared you are,” Levi said. “It’s always a struggle, but it didn’t really surprise us in any way. I don’t think Linn and I were surprised by how difficult it was. I don’t think we were surprised how hard it would be to find food, or how hungry we would be or how hot it would be, and I guess that’s just our experience spending times outdoors together and separately when we were younger.”

Baumgardt pointed out the commonalities that can be found in any survival experience. “I think, you know, obviously you kind of need the same things no matter what environment you’re in,” she said. “You need fire. You need shelter. You need food and water. … So obviously we have experience, and we know how to make a fire in certain climates. It was interesting to do it in a new one. That’s the fun of survival, too. It never gets old because every place you go it’s unique and has its unique challenges. So the best you can do is use your brain, and think about what you already know, and what you’ve learned and potential solutions, and then see how you can adapt that to the environment that you’re now in.”

Levi said he has no regrets after his experience on Men Women Wild.

“Linn did a great job of taking care of me whenever I was really struggling,” Levi said about their first episode together. “And you could see by my reactions it wasn’t something that was tough for me to deal with. … My pride wasn’t hurt from that, and so certainly you see in the first episode with me and Linn that in some ways our struggle is bringing us close together. It allows me to appreciate everything she does for me and how she can take care of me, but I’m not sure if I did so much for her in that first episode.”

Baumgardt added: “You rely on each other 100 percent, or you have to, and you’re always together. So there’s always ups and downs, and, you know, there’s some interesting challenges therefore for every couple. But the fun in it is to see how you work through that together.”

Both Baumgardt and Levi are not well versed on reality television, although Levi said he has seen a few episodes of Naked and Afraid. “I guess maybe it would have been helpful if I watched more just to kind of get a sense of how the show is put together,” Levi said.

Baumgardt said they were focused mostly on the survival part of the show, but the TV aspect has been entertaining. “So it’s an interesting piece to see yourself on TV if you’ve never done anything like that, and, you know, I think when the shows come out, we’re both excited and nervous beforehand about what will happen,” she said. “It’s really fun. It’s really a fun time for us to see.”

Levi said if no episodes of their adventures were aired, that would be fine. For this couple, the survival experience together was the real memory. “The TV portion is the least important for me,” he said. “If the show had never aired, it would not have changed how good an experience it was.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Men Women Wild airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on Discovery Channel. Click here for more information.