It’s clear that 7 vs. Wild is exhausting. However, it is unusual if candidates want to stay even longer. One candidate went so far as to prepare his escape if production wanted to force him to give up.
Warning: this article contains spoilers for episodes 1–12 of 7 vs. Wild season 3
Who is it about? Joey Kelly is one of Germany’s most experienced outdoor experts. In 7 vs. Wild, the 51-year-old teamed up with Jan Schlappen, who joined as a candidate.
The two spent 7 days together before Jan Schlappen was picked up. You can find the reasons for his exit here.
Where did Joey Kelly talk about his planned escape? In the React to episode 12 (via YouTube), Joey Kelly, wildcard participant Ann-Katrin “AffeaufBike” Benedixen, and Jens “Knossi” Knossalla met to watch the episode together. When Jan Schlappen was about to be picked up, Joey Kelly revealed a story that no one knew until then.
One of the participants in season 3 is the Twitch streamer Jens “Knossi” Knossalla. You can see more about him in our video.
Joey Kelly thought the production would send ex-military to arrest him
Why did Joey Kelly want to escape? The outdoor expert wanted to remain alone in the wild at all costs. According to Joey Kelly, the production would send ex-military as rangers. He assumed that production would instruct them to arrest him because he wanted to stay alone on the island.
This is actually not allowed, as the departure of a candidate automatically leads to the departure of the entire team. In case production would not tolerate this, he wanted to escape.
When Jan Schlappen sent the “Code Yellow” signal, production contacted the two by phone. In this call, Joey Kelly reportedly made it clear that he absolutely wanted to stay.
Joey Kelly reportedly told production that he would stay there, no discussion, and then hung up. According to statements in the React, Kelly did not respond to repeated contact attempts by production. You can find the summary of the entire episode 12 here.
How did he plan to attempt the escape? Earlier in the episode, Joey Kelly asked his teammate Jan Schlappen to think for another half hour about the exit. According to his own statements, Joey Kelly used these 30 minutes to hide all the items he would need for survival there.
In the event of an escape from production, he was afraid that they would take the items away to force him to give up.
I thought, […] that they would send these guys to arrest me and take me away. I really thought that. That could happen, that could be worst case.
Joey Kelly in the React
During the pickup, he kept a noticeable distance from the helicopter. In the React, he also revealed that he observed how many rangers got out.
Knossi: ‘Your synapses aren’t working quite right’
What were the reactions of the other two to Joey Kelly? The two could hardly believe his words. A mix of laughter and disbelief spread. Knossi said to Joey Kelly: ‘Your synapses aren’t working quite right.’
But Joey Kelly assured the two that he meant it seriously. He assumed that production would also force him to give up.
While the other two thought it was impossible for the rangers to put handcuffs on Joey Kelly, the outdoor expert considered it realistic. He justified his fear by stating that production is responsible for safety, and if something happened to him, they could be held liable.
They could easily do that, they could come and even if they don’t technically arrest me, they could take all the equipment, then I would be in trouble.
Joey Kelly in the React
Knossi contradicted Joey Kelly on all points and said: ‘This is 7 vs. Wild, it’s a nice show with positive feelings, we’re not at war.’
That unusual things happen in 7 vs. Wild is now no longer a rarity, especially in season 3, there were many occurrences regarding the show. Particularly production has been criticized more than ever in this season. For example, the community has discovered that one team was reportedly dropped near a hotel.
