In the 3rd season of 7 vs. Wild, musician Joey Kelly (51) was supposed to compete with documentary filmmaker Andreas Kieling. However, that didn’t happen. He ended up on the island with Jan Schlappen, and there was a very special team dynamic. Viewers of the survival show are now discussing this.
This post contains spoilers for 7 vs. Wild Season 3.
This was the situation:
- Joey Kelly, once a street musician and now a world star, is a well-known adventurer: Therefore, it made sense for him to participate in 7 vs. Wild.
- His partner was originally supposed to be nature filmmaker Andreas Kieling: The two were considered favorites to win the show.
- But Kieling was eliminated due to misconduct before the start, so Joey Kelly went into the wilderness with substitute participant Jan Schlappen (25). Schlappen is a Twitch streamer and YouTuber, known primarily for his “freerunning” and “parkour” content.
One of the participants in the 3rd season is Twitch streamer Jens “Knossi” Knossalla. You can see more about him in our video:
8 Hours of Hard Work on the Deserted Island
What kind of dynamic did they have? Joey Kelly is considered a “mentality monster”: He focused solely on building a shelter. Unlike other participants who built free-standing wooden structures and finished quickly, Joey wanted to build a “cave.” That required a lot of strength and effort.
Jan Schlappen started the show with some motivation, but that quickly faded. The 25-year-old repeatedly complained about boredom and how the inactivity was weighing on him. In the clips that showed him and Kelly, he increasingly took on a passive role, only listening and seeming to suffer in silence as Joey explained things.
On Day 7, Schlappen pulled the emergency brake: He felt he was learning nothing about himself, losing himself as a person, and wanted to be entertained and motivated again. Kelly asked him to at least wait until the next morning, but Schlappen left the island.
Could Joey Kelly have done something to motivate Schlappen?
This is now the discussion: On reddit, there is a discussion about how much responsibility Joey Kelly, as an experienced adventurer, has for Jan Schlappen dropping out of the project, and whether he overwhelmed the survival novice Schlappen with his idea of survival.
There are various explanations:
- Some clearly blame Joey Kelly. He focused solely on cave building, did not search for food, or explore the island. That has nothing to do with survival and is “pure hard work” – any partner would have dropped out under those circumstances.
- For others, Jan Schlappen is the clear problem: He became addicted to his phone, did not prepare for the challenge at all, and showed from Day 1 that he was not interested in the project. No one prevented him from looking for something to eat or fishing.
“After 8 Hours of Digging Without Food, Everyone Would Have Left.”
This is what the critics of Joey Kelly say: One user on reddit says: “They arrive on the first day and basically just sit on the beach. No scouting, no shelter building, no fire, no searching for sleeping places, nothing at all. When it gets dark, they throw their sleeping bags on the wet gravel and sleep there. And on Day 2, Joey gets the idea to dig a cave.”
It is said that Jan initially contributed significantly. However, on Day 3, after hours of digging and with no food, he lost motivation. One cannot blame him for that. He is a survival novice. Other participants like Renzmann did not just “dig for hours without food,” but told Joey Kelly early on that his plan was not working.
Another user says: Joey explained to Jan that he didn’t need to know anything because Joey had all the survival skills. However, he did not use them at all and did not ensure food. The plan might have worked for Kelly and Kieling “starving and distracting,” but not for Jan Schlappen.
Others say: Joey is simply not a team player, but a solo fighter. He was so focused that he could not see what was going on around him.
“The Phone Addiction Kicks In”
This is what the critics of Jan Schlappen say: Schlappen is mostly accused of having the wrong mindset. He was constantly bored and the phone addiction kicked in. He did not prepare properly for the show and is still childish.
One cannot expect Joey to play butler for him and look for food: “Joey is not a babysitter, and Jan is an adult man.”
Another says: It is almost disrespectful to participate in such a show, not bring any skills, and be a burden to your teammate. The two did not harmonize at all.
The Harmony Clearly Did Not Add Up
As an example of the lack of harmony, a scene is cited where Jan Schlappen talks about how great he thinks of Joey Kelly and how close they have become.
However, Joey Kelly greets him afterwards with “Lars!”, which fans are still making fun of.
The other participants – and Jan Schlappen himself – can also have a good laugh about the scene.
It is notable that the teams that have made it to the end all had a harmonious relationship with each other and were able to communicate well.
