Michela Carrière, 34, is from Cumberland House. (Brendan George Ko/The HISTORY Channel)

By Derek Cornet

early exit

Carrière proud of positive story she brought to TV show ‘Alone’

Jul 23, 2024 | 12:20 PM

Extreme loneliness took Michela Carrière by surprise while competing in the hit TV show Alone.

It was one of several reasons that led to her downfall and elimination from the History Channel reality show last week. She survived the freezing, brutal landscape of Inuvik, Canada, within the Arctic Circle, for 18 days, but the pressures on her mind and body ultimately led to her demise.

She was the fourth contestant out of 10 to leave the show.

“It was much more difficult than I expected it,” Carrière explained.

“I have spent time alone in the wilderness. I run my own trapline and I just thought I had it in the bag and I was going to be out there for a long time. I was alone, I was starving, I was nutrient deprived, I was stressed out and all of those things combined really just brought forward some of the mental health struggles dealing with it.”

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Equipped with only 10 basic survival tools, the participants faced bone-chilling cold, icy landscapes, and intimidating predators including bears, wolves, and moose. Participants forage for their own food, build shelter, and overcome both physical and mental obstacles while self-recording their journey for a chance to be the last person standing and win the coveted $500,000 cash prize.

Carrière called it a heartbreaking decision to drop out of the show, but she noted it was an incredible experience to learn about herself, how much she needs her family and how much she needs her home to feel healthy.

“The first thing I noticed were the similarities. I come from the Saskatchewan River Delta and where I went to was the Mackenzie River Delta, so there was a lot of lakes and rivers and muddy sands and boreal forest intermixed with muskeg, so the types of plants were very similar and just the landscape in general,” said Carrière, who is from Cumberland House.

“It felt like a little bit of home, but it was so much different because it was colder and there was less diversity because it is so far north, and the fact that every day the light was getting less and less. It was strange to be in such a dark place.”

When it came to the profound feeling of loneliness she experienced, Carrière stated it reminded her of what her relatives would have felt while attending residential schools. She said while she drew strength from it, that fact was first and foremost in her mind.

“It made me feel more connected to the hardships that our people have been through,” Carrière added.

If given the opportunity, Carrière would be a contestant on the show again. The only aspect she said she would change was spending more time practicing to film everything.

“I had this large camera that I was taking with me everywhere and it was really interesting to be having these breakdowns and best moments of my life and having to film it all. It was a whole other level that I really didn’t expect,” she said.

“A lot of the positive feedback I have been getting is people reaching out saying they loved my story and they are proud of what I have done, so overall really positive connections online. I am really happy with that and that was kind of my whole goal was to lead forward with a positive story.”

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com