DiscoveryWhat happens when rival senators from the Republican and Democratic parties are placed on a desert island? You'll soon find out thanks to Discovery Channel.
In Rival Survival, a new reality series from Discovery, two senators will be dropped into the middle of nowhere for six days and six nights. Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican from Arizona, and Senator Martin Heinrich, a Democrat from New Mexico, are at the center of the new reality series. Can they put their political differences aside to survive?
"Both of us know just how frustrated people are with Washington right now. We can both attest that no one is more frustrated than those of us trying to get things done in this environment. We recognize how difficult it can be to cut through the partisanship. So we decided to do something completely out of the ordinary and frankly a little extreme to show the world and our colleagues that even if you have serious differences, if you want to survive you have to work together," the senators said in a joint statement.
Sen. Flake is described by Discovery as a "true conservative Republican." Prior to joining the senate he served six consecutive terms in the US House of Representatives from 2001-2013. Sen. Heinrich is a member of the Senate's Energy and National Resources Committee and is a self-described conservationist.
The two senators will spend their time on the island of Eru, Marshall Islands. According to Discovery, the island is "an utterly unforgiving deserted destination where the reefs alone are fraught with dangers that include venomous stonefish, lionfish and scorpion fish." They'll be given a "modest choice of items" and only be allowed to select three. There's no natural source of fresh water on Eru. The island is also one of the largest shark sanctuaries in the world. The series hails from the producers of Naked and Afraid…no word on whether the senators will be stripping down.
Rival Survival premieres October 29 at 10 p.m. on Discovery.