What would you say if a pretty girl suddenly asked you to go skinny-dipping? And then she told you the pool was 305 metres up a mountain in Newfoundland - in February.
Believe it or not, Eve Kelly found seven adventurous souls to follow her up Marble Mountain in Corner Brook. The 24-year-old native of Fogo Island, just off Newfoundland's northeast coast, is the winsome host of The Skinny Dip, an entirely different sort of TV travelogue that sees her hiking to hard-to-reach swimming holes, including one in a jungle in Brazil.
"Only a Newfoundlander can get away with that - going around the world and asking people to go skinny-dipping," says the show's St. John's-based producer, Ed Martin.
This is Kelly's first time hosting a TV show, and she is, quite simply, a natural - with and without her clothes.
"Don't worry about shrinkage - I won't even look!"
she assures a reluctant travel companion in the hour-long special.
What possessed you to star in a show about skinny-dipping?
I'll tell you how it got started. I was at work and a colleague put a piece of paper in front of me that said: "Are you female, 20 to 30 years old, physically active, outgoing, fun-loving, charismatic, adventurous, a nature lover, a capable swimmer and like to travel to warm climates?" So I contacted them. At this point, and even when I came in for the audition, I didn't know what it was for. I was given the details at a later date and I have absolutely no regrets.
You didn't just go skinny-dipping by yourself.
No, I ambushed and recruited people from the surrounding area in Corner Brook as well as in Ubatuba, Brazil. I had to give them my pitch and sell them this idea of coming with me on the trek and the skinny-dip. I had a lot of yes responses and I had a lot of no responses. [laughs] But I did eventually get a troop for
both.
So, what's it like to swim naked with complete strangers?
Well, during the trek, you are with these people for a week, so you develop a relationship with them before that actual moment. They were all free spirits, and we all gelled really well. It was an interesting mix of people - we had young and old from all walks of life. It made for a great time.
How often have you swum nude before this show?
Ahh, maybe a little bit. [laughs] But I was always a lover of the outdoors and that is definitely my element. It was a rare opportunity to get out and try different terrains and different climates and meet new people. Ultimately, the golden opportunity at the end, the reward, was the dip.
You had to hike pretty far to find your swimming holes.
There were times when we were climbing the mountain in Corner Brook and, I don't even have asthma, but I just couldn't breathe, it was that strenuous. [The trek]
definitely had its true-blue
moments where it was physically demanding and I was thinking to myself: What have I gotten myself into? But we got to the top and we jumped into that icy water in the middle of February, and it was great.
No it wasn't!
I was running on an adrenalin rush like something sick. It wasn't as bad as you think, actually. It was -16 and really cold.
That sounds pretty bad. I have no idea how you did it.
It wasn't easy, but once we got to our destination, we pumped ourselves up. I remember we were in a semi-circle, just jumping around and saying, "We're gonna do this! We're gonna do this!" We had a great team and everybody played a part in getting everyone's spirit high. It was nothing but fun - fun and laughs.
Even those crazy Polar Bear swimmers normally wear clothes. You guys just wore tuques and water socks!
We took all the safety precautions, and there were no long-lasting effects. Everyone was glad they had done it.
The show airs on a cable channel, so how much nudity are we going to see?
I don't want to give too much away, but a family watching will be pleasantly surprised. It's not sleazy. It's not racy. They used very nice discretion - there's no frontal nudity.
There might be people tuning in looking for that.
I think that's the intrigue behind the name, but it's very tasteful. It's a natural nudity - you're not going to think you tuned in to the wrong channel! It's all about having fun.
The Skinny Dip airs Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT on Travel+Escape.
