'Naked and Afraid' Recap: 'Holly & Don' Season 5 Episode 12, '23 Days'

This getting pretty interesting in this episode of Discovery's Naked and Afraid as Holly Simmons and Don Nguyen get naked to take on the harsh savannah of Namibia to see if they can survive 21 days with very little.

Holly Simmons (Facebook) is a 23-year-old female from out of Fayetteville, North Carolina. Holly (Instagram) is in a relationship and works as a rental agent and climbing gym instructor.

She is pretty confident in the challenge and getting through the 21-days but she is nervous about getting sunburnt very fast and having a painful time in the rest if the challenge.

Her skills include, "shelter building, forest/plant Identification, trapping and hunting." She will begin the challenge with a PSR of 6.2.

"Holly is from Wasilla and she grew up hiking, climbing and rafting all around Alaska.

She became interested in survival at a young age. She grew up participating in an outdoor adventures program and started learning how imperative survival skills are especially in the bush," according to Discovery.

Don Nguyen (Facebook) is a 28-year-old male from Ellensburg, Washington. Don (Website) is in a relationship and works as a rock climbing guide.

He believes that we should all be naked with strangers more often.

He admits that he is not a badass and is hoping that his partner is. His skills include, "ethnology of hunter/gatherer cultures, zoology, tropical ecology and botany." Don will begin the challenge with an overall PSR of 6.0.

"Don is a first-generation American and was born in Oklahoma City's Little Saigon.

His parents were refugees of the Vietnam War.

The earliest stories he heard were the years of imprisonment his father suffered in a POW camp deep in the jungle and of his family's harrowing escape from Vietnam by boat," according to Discovery.

The first meeting seems normal and they seem pretty comfortable in their skin. They are hoping that the challenge is lower on the afraid end and decide to head out on their mission. They will have to battle extreme heat and extreme cold at nights.

They must also look out for deadly hippos. Holly's first impression of Don is that he is pretty book smart. They come up on water and Holly believes in the lily-filter while Don isn't so sure.

Don has done a lot of research and he is worried about trying to survive the cold temperatures at night. They haven't built a shelter but they did manage to get a fire going. Holly doesn't feel too good and it could be from the un-purified water she drank.

Holly is sick and threw up a couple of times. She is getting very dehydrated and doesn't get much sleep.

Holly is discouraged from night one and Don wants to get a shelter going but Holly isn't quite up to it. Don decides to cut some grass and come back to get Holly later on. He stumbles upon a fruit tree with a very nutritious option.

He decides to bring the fruit to Holly confident in the taste. Holly does not like the fruit. Don can't get through anything alone and Holly wants to drop out.

Holly says she is not emotionally ready and Don is begging her to stay. Holly says she is done and thinks Don has it. He is not happy and doesn't believe he can do it alone.

He says he will stay for as long as he can but Holly taps out on day two of the challenge. On night two, Don's morale is low because he couldn't convince his partner to stay.

Don wakes up on day three and updates everyone on all of the wildlife around him. The producers step in and tell Don that since Holly tapped out after day two, they will be getting dawn a new partner. However, the challenge will start over again.

His new partner is Amber, who was beaten by a previous challenge. She is looking for redemption this time around.

She is an ex-soldier which is what Don wanted in a partner. Amber will begin the mission with a PSR of 7.4.

Amber strips naked and meets her partner Don. They are both enthusiastic about hitting the challenge hard and he brings her over to his old camp.

Amber says she would like to start a new place with him and they go out exploring for new ground to cover.

Amber directs Don with some ideas for a shelter. Amber realizes she will have to do a little more heavy work than her partner.

Don and Amber are enjoying the fruits but Amber knows she needs more than the acidic fruit. In the evening, Amber's stomach is giving her some issues.

She can't understand what is going on in the evening.

On day two of the new 21-day challenge, Don is not happy when he runs into Amber's feces. They bump heads a bit and Amber is not too happy about Don's bossy nature.

Don is worried about rain and the risk of frigid temperatures which could lead to hypothermia. The rain does set in and Amber and Don have to survive one night in the extreme cold.

Don wants to push it and collect palms but Amber doesn't want to exert herself.

Don wants her support but Amber is not into palms and would rather gather wood. Amber says all of Don's knowledge mean nothing out there unless they have experienced it before.

On day six, Don and Amber are visited by monkeys. While they collect palms, the monkeys stole some of their fruit and Amber tells Don she doesn't know how she will react because she hasn't been this far along without food.

Concerned about food, Amber teaches Don how to make a spear. After making their spears, Amber and Don go spear-fishing and come up empty-handed.

On day eight, Amber says her boob hurts. She feels as if she has popped her breast implants.

Don is worried that Amber will leave him again but Amber says she will try to stick it out as long as she can.

Then, things get bad as the rain sets in again. Don and Amber continued to cut grass for the shelter and when Don doesn't man up and carry some bundles, Amber calls him out for acting like a kid.

They go back and forth and Don becomes weary of Amber's negativity. Amber continues to say that her boob hurts and that it feels torn and unbearable. They apologize to each other and hug it out later on.

Going into day nine, Amber still has severe pain in her breast.

She brings up her time in the Everglades and the fact that she needs to trust her mind. She says she thinks she is going to go and Amber taps out once again.

Don begins to question whether there is something wrong with him to have two partners leave. He relied on his partner for body heat in the previous nights, however, he is all alone now. On day 10 Don realizes that he has to reassess why he is out there.

He is there to learn primitive skills first-hand. He says he still wants to do that but is still worried about the nighttime. Don has another lonely night and he is trying to keep the fire going.

In the morning, Don realizes he is weakened and he needs to make a fish-trap to get some protein. He uses textbook knowledge to create a fish-trap and is hoping it pays off. In the evening a hippo walks by Don's camp but he lives to see day 14.

Don decides to check his fish-trap but it is empty. He turns to spear-fishing and is missing everything. His hunting is unsuccessful.

Don can tell a storm is rolling in and he realizes he needs to get the fire going to stay warm and keep his bedding dry. He can't stop thinking about food which adds to the difficulty of his mission.

The rain is relentless and Don says his shelter is compromised and he really struggles with keeping himself in check.

On day 19 the rain is gone and Don is struggling to stay awake. He doesn't feel like doing anything but he knows he has to find food.

His fish-trap is empty and Don goes back to his spear-fishing. He is taking in his surroundings and becomes emotional. Don is happy to be alive after feeling everything around him. Later on he checks his trap to find two fish.

Don has a boost of confidence and enjoys his roasted fish. On extraction day, Don is ready to walk out of Namibia. He plots his course on the map and decides to go through crocodile and hippo-infested water.

Don finds himself at the road and runs towards the truck. He has completed the Naked and Afraid 21 day challenge with two partners leaving him alone. Don finishes with a PSR of 7.5.

"23 Days" was a pretty tough episode for Discovery's Naked and Afraid.

The season continues to get even more interesting by the week and Holly, Amber and Don sure had their fair share of adversity.

Fans can catch another all new "Naked and Afraid" next week on Sunday at 10 PM EST on Discovery.

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