“I Surprised Myself A Lot”: Extracted’s Davina & Devin Explain How They Navigated The Game’s Extreme Twists

Extracted, the new survivalist series that brings together one contestant and some of their closest friends or family members to work through extreme challenges, has its next eliminated team. With its first two episodes pulling viewers in with the interesting premise, Extracted has been gaining traction over its weeks on air, bringing new viewers to the series. While the show takes elements of other survivalist shows, the unique dual-sided perspective of the game makes it a refreshing watch. As the competitors stranded in the Canadian wilderness do their best to keep themselves going, their companions struggle to watch from afar.

Throughout the first stretch of the competition, some of the competitors understood how to make their way through the wilderness with ease. Survivalists showed up to compete, and their companions often held the key to getting them the right items at the right moments. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for everyone. Some of the competitors, like Davina Christy, felt they’d be able to work a bit more on the fly than it turned out they could. Davina, who was joined on Extracted by her younger sister Devin Nieman and her step-daughter Tori Christy, was hopeful she’d succeed on the show.

While Davina may not have been up for the challenge of Extracted in the way she’d hoped, she proved that she was a formidable competitor in the first episodes of the season. Though Davina wasn’t able to keep herself safely in the game, her time on Extracted was memorable. The dynamic Davina shares with her sister, Devin, is a genuinely heartwarming one. Speaking to Screen Rant ahead of the series’ second episode, Davina and Devin spoke about their time on Extracted, explaining how they found the show, what they made of the experience, and what they’re taking away from it.

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Screen Rant: Davina, how did you and your family come to be a part of Extracted? From the reactions we saw from you on screen, Extracted really seemed like the opposite of the type of show that you'd be interested in doing.

Davina Christy: I've always wanted to do some type of adventure reality show. I've been watching shows like that since I was 17 years old, so it was a dream of mine. I didn't know a lot about the show going into it, because this was the first season and so you don't really know. They tell you only a little bit - like, I did not know I would be surviving alone. That part was kind of a shocker to me. I would still do it again, though.

Screen Rant: That’s so exciting, to go into something so blind and take the chance to do it. I was very impressed by you just stepping out of your comfort zone like that. Devin, what was your reaction when you learned about the show?

Devin Nieman: My sister called me and she's like, oh my gosh, this casting producer messaged me on Instagram, he wants to do a Zoom call. And I was like, Davina, I'm not doing another Zoom call for another TV show with you. I work at the hospital, and my job is very demanding. I'm on call a lot, and then I have a four-year-old little boy who's my world. So I was like, there's no way I can go be on a TV show. But, you know, we just did this one Zoom, and then it led to another Zoom, and then I led to another Zoom, which led to another, and the next thing I know, we're flying out to Canada. I honestly wouldn't change it for the world. Davina’s my big sister sister and I support her. Like she said, she's been wanting to reality TV shows since she was little. So, I was never not going to go, but she definitely had to, like, pull me by my hair to get me to go.

Screen Rant: Well, I'm glad you both went there and got it done. So even knowing just a little bit, how did you guys prepare for what was to come?

Davina: I did not really prepare. I think it would have been a game-changer for me, it would have helped me tremendously, but obviously I didn't. It was such a mind game with just the whole process of getting on the show. I really didn't know that we were gonna be on the show and flying out to Canada until, really, probably maybe 10 to 12 days before. It was never a for sure thing, and so I just had trouble with that in my mind, preparing for something that I didn't know what was going to happen. I didn't want to get my hopes up and jinx the whole process.

So I scrambled a few days before I had a friend of mine who's a fireman help me with making fire with flint, I did okay here at home, but it's a lot drier here in Florida than it was in Canada. So I did do that. I thought I did well enough I could do it again by myself, but that did not happen on the show at all. I did start working out when I first learned about the casting process – I wanted to get a little bit stronger, and I think it did help me a lot. So that was the only thing I really did, just try to get my body in better shape.

Screen Rant: The best thing you can do is to start. You mentioned that you watched survival shows growing up. Did anything help you during your time on the show from those past experiences?

Davina: Watching other shows was probably my downfall, actually. I assumed that I would be with the other survivalists before the show. In my head, I assumed I was going to be with a group of people, hanging out, building relationships, you know, and just building together, fire together. I even remember, on the plane flying to Canada, I was watching videos on how to like, scale a fish and, you know, do all that good stuff. Like, if someone catches a fish, at least I know how to do that. I didn’t expect to be on my own, and so I think watching the other shows was a downfall, because I just expected to be working with other people.

Screen Rant: Well, thankfully for the next show that you do, I'm sure you'll be incredibly prepared. Can you describe what was going through your head in the first moments that you really got into the wilderness and understood what was going on?

Davina: A shock, honestly. I was in shock from the moment my feet hit the ground. When I got out of the helicopter, I was just like, oh my gosh, I'm going to be doing this alone. We're not in a group, I don't have a partner. I was a little freaked out. I knew at that point I wasn't prepared, and that I was probably going to be the least experienced person out there. I spent the whole first day in shock just standing there looking around, waiting on something to happen, waiting on someone to bring me a tent. I didn’t think I was going to make it through the first night, honestly - but then I told myself, I've got to make it through the night - I am not going to quit the first night. My sister will kill me. [Laughs].

Screen Rant: Devin, what were you feeling when you saw Davina on screen? How did you feel, knowing she was struggling?

Devin: Like I was gonna kill her if I had that button [laughs] because we traveled all the way across the country, and I was just because in my head, I felt like she was going to be alone. I called her probably, like, two weeks before the show, and was like, “You need to go sleep in the woods tonight.” And she said no, and I said, “I'm not going if you don't go sleep in the woods tonight.” Seeing her alone in the woods I was like, well, maybe she should have listened to her little sister [laughs]. I think Tor (Davina’s step-daughter) and I probably stayed up that night until like 3 a.m. because we were so nervous that we were going to have to hit the button.

The show showed a little bit, but it did not show how terrified she actually was. I mean, every five seconds, she's turning her head looking for a bear, like she would not quit talking about the bears. That's why I [eventually] sent her that bear spray, because she just would not stop talking about the bears.

Screen Rant: Ah, we’ll get back to the bear spray, I promise - Davina, how did it feel knowing your family was watching you that closely? Did it add pressure to the experience?

Davina: I'd say that it was actually probably more comforting knowing that they were watching than more pressure. I mean, I guess there was a little pressure just knowing that I'm freaking out and they're probably like, you wanted to do this. But it was also a little comforting, even though I couldn't hear or see them. It was comforting for for me to know that they could hear me and see me at all times.

Screen Rant: Okay, now going back to the bear spray - Devin, looking back, do you think you could change any of the decisions you made on what to send?

Devin: Not necessarily, no, because we went in like 10 out of 12, so we were at the end. So, you know, food was gone, knives were gone, the tools were gone. So we got the best things available, I will say, looking back and watching the show, I think I would have really tried maybe to shove that sleeping bag in there because I heard how warm it was versus the blanket.

We did get the last light, and I didn't even realize it was a light. I think I remember telling Tori [about it], but Davina was so thankful for that light. So, I was very happy with the light choice, at least.

Screen Rant: It was a helpful box, in the moment! My last question for you guys, what was the most surprising thing that you learned about yourself throughout this experience?

Davina: I guess for me, just the fact that I'm a lot stronger than I even thought I was. I’m capable of so much more than I give myself credit for. Over the past few years, my sister and I have had to become a lot stronger just after the loss of my dad, then my mom had a stroke a year later. So I knew I was strong, but the way I felt that first night, knowing I was going to be alone, completely in the dark, and there's no guy behind the camera with me, you know, just me in the woods… I felt that night and how I was able to push through.

I don't give myself some credit, either. For example, like the building the raft challenge, the episode didn’t show a lot of that with me, but I was the second one to build my raft and get in the water. When I saw what that challenge was going to be, I was crying, thinking I couldn’t do it. Then I really excelled at it, and it shocked me. I surprised myself a lot.

Devin: It was honestly a lot easier and funner experience for me [laughs] The set up was perfect, and it's like a little vacation watching my sister on television 24/7. But, I mean, I'm stronger than I think I am because I didn't think I'd be able to be away from my son for so long. And I did it. I could do it with the help of my husband. So thank goodness he held things down at home. You know, even when you think you can't do things, sometimes you can.