Pittsfield native bares all for Discovery show 'Naked and Afraid'

Posted Sunday, July 26, 2015 7:14 am

PITTSFIELD — Paolo Di Girolamo II, a Pittsfield native, wasn't one to watch cable or follow much of anything on social media.

But two summers ago, a Facebook post from a friend caught his eye and changed everything.

"I think u should go on the show naked and afraid ... just tossin' it out there," Di Girolamo's college friend Tracey Matthews wrote.

Having never heard of the show, Di Girolamo told The Eagle in a recent phone interview, "I thought it was a joke."

But his friend explained the premise of the Discovery Channel's reality television show and, the adventurer that he his, Di Girolamo filled out an application that night.

"They called me the next day," he said.

He didn't make the first cut. But about a year and around a half-dozen or so other reality TV casting calls later, Di Girolamo landed the travel gig he never expected.

On Sunday at 9 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, he, and thousands of television viewers, will tune in to watch him and a female oncology nurse from Ohio literally bare all for a special hourlong segment of "Naked and Afraid."

But as Di Girolamo explained, for him, the experience of being on a television show and traveling to parts unknown is more than skin deep.

A 2006 graduate of Taconic High School and 2010 graduate of Westfield State University, Di Girolamo has a solid history of being in the outdoors, keeping athletically active and working with people.

The son of Debra and Paolo Di Girolamo, he and his brother, Anthony, grew up on Oswald Avenue. In high school, Paolo ran on the cross-country and track and field teams, did wrestling and skied for a season with the cross country team. He later went on to be one of the head trainers in the 2010-11 season with the former Pittsfield Colonials baseball team.

"The Berkshires are an enormous part of my background," he said. "It's home for me. It's hiking up Mount Greylock and growing up and going camping in Otis."

Article Continues After Advertisement

Di Girolamo said his father passed away when he was only 8, but they had enough time together to go fishing, and his mother taught him about gardening.

"Our parents taught us to understand and respect that we were in a unique and very valuable area," he said.

His mother said that when she found out Paolo was going to be on the adventure show, she wasn't too surprised.

"You gotta know Paolo. When he wants to do something, he just goes out and does it," Debra Di Girolamo said.

"As a boy, Paolo was into fishing, he was into exploring. He was never intimidated by picking up a bumblebee ... he'd just want to look at it. And if a bird fell out of a tree [he and his brother would] put it in a box and nurture it back to health," she said.

Article Continues After These Ads

"He's so creative in every way. I'm very proud of him," she said, noting that "both my boys are awesome."

The Di Girolamo family will be getting together with friends on Sunday — also Debra's birthday — at Kings bowling and entertainment center in Burlington, Mass., for a special screening of the show.

Now in its fourth season, "Naked and Afraid," is trying something new with Sunday's episode. Producers typically conduct a search and select a man and a woman to take on a 21-day survivalist challenge in an undeveloped location. The pair of strangers are dropped off in the wild, naked, with only a simple burlap sack and one tool each. They must quickly overcome awkward introductions and learn to work together in the wilderness to find food, water and shelter and to stay safe and sane.

For the new episode, Di Girolamo, then 26, and his contest mate, Kristin Young, then 32, were chosen to participate through a viewer's choice social media campaign and contest, "#ShowUsWhatYouGot." In Di Girolamo's contest video, titled "Keep me outside," he explains that this is his second chance to be on the show, after not making the first cut. "I'm ready to get wild again, and this is how I want to do it."

Back in December, Di Girolamo got the call that he had won his opportunity.

He and Young's trials and tribulations in the buff took place in late January, during an approximately two-week trek through a remote area of the Chocoyero-El Brujo Natural Reserve, in the southwestern department of Managua, Nicaragua.

Their episode is titled "Easier Said Than Done."

Article Continues After Advertisement

Unlike the show's previous contestants, the duo got a chance, prior to meeting each other, to do a full-day of training with naturalists and other survival experts. The training episodes can be seen online at Discovery.com.

Despite having a small filming crew with them, Di Girolamo said he and partner were given hand-held cameras and left to fend for themselves.

He said that he and Young worked at confronting their opposing strengths and weaknesses: He was used to solo camping and trekking and keeping emotionally to himself. She, a nurturing mother and wife, was looking to building her strengths and an individual.

It was the rainforest's dry season, so taking advantage of flora and waterfalls was harder than expected. "The first few days, we were at a loss of what we were going to survive off of," Di Girolamo said. "It forced us to think on our feet and rewrite the goals and strategies that we had."

At the end of the day, Di Girolamo said he lost 35 pounds and had a trying time coming back to civilization in early February, during one of Boston's roughest winters in history.

Unlike other wilderness and reality TV shows, like the CBS show "Survivor," there's no competition on "Naked and Afraid," and no million-dollar prize at the end of the challenge. People cast on "Naked and Afraid" receive an appearance sum, travel expenses and bragging rights for surviving the whole ordeal.

Di Girolamo, whose name and various videos now circulates throughout the entertainment and travel world, said he's gotten some calls about endorsements and other opportunities.

He and his mother both confirmed that they never thought television was in his future. But, as Paolo says, "the notion of getting paid to be an adventurer and go on these wild journeys" is something that truly speaks to his heart.

He currently works as a neurological specialist at Journey Forward in Canton, a place that helps people recover from spinal cord injuries. He said his work and family very much support his dream.

"It feels really good," he said. "It gives you a fresh perspective on life. Now I feel I know who I am more and what I want to get out of life."

Contact Jenn Smith at 413-496-6239.