Picture a survival reality show that takes place in Siberia and pits participants against the elements and each other for a period of nine months with the winner taking home $1.7 million. And the kicker: fighting, alcohol, rape, murder, anything is allowed.
Sounds absurd, but that’s the premise of a new Russian game show called Game 2: Winter that’s set to be broadcast online in July. We know, questions abound. Like, how in the world is this even legal? Organizers of the show are adamant that they won’t intervene should any of of the aforementioed illegalities occur.
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But, Pyatkovsky adds, the show’s organizers have made it clear to participants that being allowed to commit crimes in the show does not make them immune from the law, and any illegal act is punishable by Russian law, which Siberia is a territory of.
In addition to fighting off each other, the contestants, which include 15 men and 15 women, will do battle with wild animals, including bears and wolves, and some of the harshest winter weather on the planet. Temperatures in the remote forest region are known to drop to a dangerous 40 degrees below zero.
And everything, from sex to nudity and everything in between, will be captured on camera. Contestants will be allowed to carry knives and while there is a bit of a safety net, there’s not enough of one to ensure disaster won’t happen.
“This area of Siberia gets to minus 50 celsius in winter, and it is infested with brown bears,” Pyatkovsky said. “There will be a ground team on duty, and one or two helicopters for emergency situations. Having said that, bears can run as fast as 60 kph (37 mph) and our two thousand cameras on the island would not be able to cover every centimeter of the forests. This is the raw Siberian taiga. Anything can happen, and we might not be on time to solve an emergency.”
Intrigued? We sure are. Here are a few of the contestants:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPxbbRCBdny/