Imagine spending a year in the wilderness for a reality TV show — and then finding out it was canceled.
Unfortunately, that's the sad truth for the contestants on Eden, which sent 23 people into the Scottish wilderness for a year. They returned to a life of civilization on Thursday, only to discover that just four episodes of the show aired after its cancellation last August.
Scotland's Press and Journal explains that the series was "intended as a combination of reality TV and sociology experiment." The idea was for the contestants to create their own society.
Not all 23 of them lasted the full year; 13 people quit the show, with "midges," a.k.a. gross, tiny flies, taking part of the blame, the Press and Journal notes. (The outlet also reports that "sexual jealousy" and hunger also played a part in the 13 contestants' departure.)
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But 10 of the contestants did stick it out for the whole year, and they were in for a terrible surprise. According to The Guardian's report on the Eden contestants' return, none of them knew about Brexit, or the fact that Donald Trump had been elected the 45th president of the United States.
A spokesperson for Channel 4, which aired the Scottish reality series, said the episodes will eventually be aired, but there's not a set date yet, the Press and Journal reports.
"The appeal of Eden is that it was a real experiment and when filming began we had no idea what the results would be and how those taking part would react to being isolated for months in a remote part of the British Isles," the spokesperson told the Scottish news outlet. "That's why we did it, and the story of their time, including the highs and the lows, will be shown later this year."
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