Alyssa Ballestero may have been naked in the wilderness, but she wasn’t afraid. Ballestero, 29, of Durham, was a contestant on the Discovery Channel reality TV show, "Naked and Afraid."

DURHAM — Alyssa Ballestero may have been naked in the wilderness, but she wasn’t afraid.

Ballestero, 29, of Durham, was a contestant on the Discovery Channel TV show “Naked and Afraid.” In early 2015, she and a randomly-selected partner spent 21 days on the Yucatan Peninsula surviving with an ax and a pot.

Ballestero, who works as a social worker, said her mom and sister urged her to apply to be on the show after they saw a commercial about another contestant from New Hampshire.

She submitted an application, and a week later was meeting with the executive producer in Los Angeles.

Ballestero said doing the interviews was harder than the survival aspect of the TV show because it was hard to adjust to being in front of the camera.

Growing up in Durham, Ballestero said she was always outside, camping and learning survival techniques.

“Everyone here is outdoorsy, it’s just how we are; it’s New Hampshire,” said Ballestero. “Everyone I know could probably do this, but it’s another element of being on TV and being naked.”

Throughout her 21 days on the peninsula, Ballestero and her partner survived on heart of palm, coconuts and 20 raw snails per day, which she had to chase down with coconut water.

According to Ballestero, the worst part of the experience was, once they were able to get fire at their camp on day 11, mosquitoes plagued them until day 21.

She and her partner would walk around throughout the night to keep the mosquitoes away. They would hunt at dusk and dawn when it was a manageable temperature and then sleep during the heat of the day.

Ballestero said that one time she and her partner found eggs on the beach, so they boiled them and opened them only to discover that the eggs were actually baby birds.

“We had killed them, so I was like, we have to eat them,” she said. “That was the worst because you could feel the beak and the feathers going down. It was terrible!”

But the 21 days on the Yucatan wasn’t enough for Ballestero.

Earlier this year, she, along with 11 other former contestants, set off to South Africa to be on "Naked and Afraid XL," the 40-day spinoff challenge to "Naked and Afraid."

"I’ve been back for a little bit and it’s still taking a toll on my body,” said Ballestero. “Survival destroys your body.”

Ballestero could not reveal many details about the XL season, but she did say, “It’s going to be amazing!”

The new XL season starts on Sunday, July 10, at 10 p.m. on the Discovery Channel.