In the survival show “7 vs. Wild”, the first dropout of a team has now been shown on YouTube: The two favorites to win, Survival Mattin and Fritz Meinecke, were eliminated on day 3 of the survival show. Contestant Survival Mattin is now addressing the many rumors surrounding the cancellation. Was it really the lack of water that was to blame? Or was it, as many fans believe, his back pain or lack of motivation?
This was the situation:
- About a month ago, episode six of 7 vs. Wild aired on the Amazon service Freevee, in which the favorites to win, Fritz Meinecke and Survival Mattin had to give up: Due to a storm, their only source of drinking water had become salty, and they requested early pickup after finding no clean drinking water and suffering from the early stages of dehydration.
- Even back then, there were many rumors surrounding the cancellation: Fans believed that the drinking water problem was just a pretext. In reality, it was Survival Mattin’s chronic back problems and the team’s bad mood that were the cause. Bad voices said that the two were not real
survival
experts and lacked the drive. They were mere walking billboards. - At that time, the participants could not comment on the rumors. But now that the episode has aired on YouTube, Survival Mattin is talking about his elimination.
One of the participants in season 3 is Twitch streamer Jens “Knossi” Knossalla. You can see more about him in our video.
Mattin regrets talking about his back pain
This is what Survival Mattin says about the rumors: The 40-year-old denies the speculation that his chronic back problems were the actual reason for his elimination. He has had chronic back problems since he was 18, knows the pain well, and has it under control.
With this back pain, he has completed many demanding projects, and he had enough painkillers on site to cope with the issues.
On a scale from 1 to 10, the problems on the island were only a 5. There was still plenty of room to handle.
In hindsight, he regrets having even mentioned the back pain in front of the camera, but he wanted to show the fans that a show like this can be a torture and brings negative sides with it.
Fundamentally mess it up
What was the reason for the cancellation? Mattin emphasizes once again that the sole reason for the cancellation was the lack of fresh water:
“Yes, we fundamentally messed it up because we couldn’t find drinking water anymore. I don’t want to deny that. Maybe we should have done something else that we weren’t aware of at the time. I wasn’t clear at that moment about what else we could or should have done. Therefore, I still believe that the decision is and remains the right one.”
It was not an option to drink the salty water. That could have jeopardized the rescue chain and the whole show.
This was the criticism from the fans: After the episode aired, fans complained that Mattin had let himself go during the episode, had intentionally tasted salt in the water everywhere, and had artificially inflated the problem of the salty water. In reality, he was just looking for an excuse to quit the show.
As Mattin says, the lack of water was indeed the decisive reason. He wasn’t looking for an exit – he and Fritz Meinecke simply weren’t built that way. They wanted to push through.
“Fritz and I – we are two guys who would never thoughtlessly look for an exit or quickly, hastily end something – especially not such a big format as 7 vs. Wild.”
However, Mattin admits that he was not satisfied with his performance in retrospect and therefore had not done any advertising for the show in recent weeks.
The day before the suspension, Mattin was already at the end
How does he see his performance? Like his partner Fritz Meinecke, Survival Mattin critically views his performance in the show. He let himself be too strongly influenced by the difficulties surrounding the show and therefore started the show with a wrong mindset and bad mood.
As a result, he and Fritz Meinecke appeared very “grumpy”:
“In the format, it was indeed the case that a lot had happened beforehand that mentally stressed me. […] Mental issues can also affect the body and sometimes intensify normal feelings or pains that one already has.”
Mattin says:
- He had a terrible jet lag
- There was a struggle over the fire issue
- Also the topic “Andreas Kieling” had greatly stressed him
“We were in a very, very – I would say – not doing so well. The day before we were to be suspended, the fire issue came up, and I was at the end. I threw up four or five times, could not calm down at all, and had a constantly elevated pulse.”
According to Mattin, the “psyche was totally messed up.” So he went into the show already cracked and dejected, with a head full of negative thoughts.
Ultimately, the lack of drinking water was the reason for the early cancellation. But the general attitude of the two survival experts, which Mattin describes as “cracked”, increased the negative impression that reached the viewers.
However, Mattin asks fans to think carefully before commenting. Also, what other participants had to hear was often exaggerated:
“Even if someone had done a Dave on day 1 – so what? You don’t know what’s going on with people. You weren’t in the situation.”
More on the “fire topic” that Mattin addresses:
