She’s naked and unafraid.
A Florida veteran made TV history after becoming the first-ever transgender woman to compete on the smash-hit survival reality show “Naked and Afraid.”
“People like me don’t get chosen for things like this,” said Terra, 37, who was assigned a male gender at birth but began transitioning four years ago because she had “always felt female” growing up, the Daily Mail reported. The trailblazer appeared on Sunday night’s episode of the Discovery Channel series, which took place in Zambia, Africa.
For the uninitiated, each “Naked” episode entails dropping two strangers, generally a man and a woman, off in the wilderness with no food, water, gear or clothes — hence the name. From there, the pair are forced to make shelter, start a fire, forage for food, and otherwise survive for 21 days while in their birthday suits.
Terra, who bow-hunted her whole life and served in the US Air Force for 12 years, lasted the duration, despite not finding much food and lacerating her nipple. It was a testament to the vet being “absolutely prepared” for the challenge, having survived for weeks in the wilderness with just a knife.
Not to mention that Terra’s “Naked” accomplishments paled in comparison to the serious challenges she faced during her gender transition.
“Transitioning is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but so worth it,” insisted the pioneering survivalist on the show, which is currently in its 14th season. Terra has had her breasts augmented but has yet to undergo penile inversion vaginoplasty — where one’s manhood gets surgically inverted and a vulva and neovagina is created, according to the Urologic Clinics of North America journal.
“Things on the outside aren’t what they are supposed to be at this point in my transgender transition,” explained Terra. “I do have breasts, and I do have the male genitalia still.”
In fact, she was initially concerned about what her partner on “Naked” would think of her being in anatomical limbo.
“When it comes to my partner, they’re either gonna accept everything or they’re gonna go off the deep end, and we’re gonna see some bad s – – t,” said Terra prior to meeting her male companion.
Thankfully, the gentleman, a “conservative” South African farmer named Shaun, literally welcomed Terra with open arms.
“Yeah, you’re unique,” he exclaimed upon laying eyes on his teammate’s nude bod for the first time. “It is a bit of a shock to me, but we’re all unique and special.”
He added, “I’m open-minded, and we’re going to do this together. Don’t worry, I’ve got your back.”
Relieved at being accepted into the fold, Shaun’s right-hand trans woman responded, “‘I appreciate that. And I’ve got your back, too.”
“Hearing that is a big thing to me,” she continued. “We’re gonna do this, we’re gonna be OK.”
They then hugged and embarked on their adventure. Unfortunately, Shaun suffered a concussion three days into the show and had to be evacuated, leaving his partner to fend for herself for the remaining two and a half weeks, Yahoo! reported.
Nonetheless, Terra learned a lot from her stint on the show.
“I’m not a gender, I’m not a label, I’m just a human,” she said while being extracted at the episode’s end. “It’s empowering. I’m going through my own transitional journey.”
The military vet added, “And I know now that if I just stick with it, there’s nothing I cannot do in this world.”
Terra is not the first trans person to appear on “Naked and Afraid.” That honor goes to Quince Mountain, a trans man from Illinois who was featured on a Season 10 episode, which saw him stranded in the Honduran jungle with Florida police officer Teresa Owens, the DM reported. Both managed to make it the entire three weeks.