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Two US senators from opposing camps took their shared interest in spearfishing to the South Pacific for a reality television show intended to teach gridlocked Washington a lesson in teamwork.
Rival Survival finds Jeff Flake, a Republican from Arizona, and Martin Heinrich, a Democrat from New Mexico, sweating it out for a week on a desert island.
"If you want to see a Republican suffer and a Democrat suffer, you're going to be happy" when Discovery Channel televised the one-off programme worldwide, Heinrich said on Thursday.
"I can assure you, we were very afraid - but not naked," added Flake in a nod to the network's more risqué tropical survivalist series Naked and Afraid.
The senators said they came up with the idea 18 months ago when, during breaks in a marathon budget vote, they discovered they were both into spear fishing.
Their original plan was to film their adventure themselves, before Discovery came on board with a full production crew.
Pitting themselves against nature, Flake, 51, and Heinrich, 42, struggled to ignite a fire in the rain, build a shelter out of palm leaves and fish for their dinner.
Flake brought with him a raft of experience: he has twice visited the Marshall Islands, where Rival Survival was filmed, for solo and family survivalist holidays.
"Early on, I thought: 'This is a crazy idea'," recalled Heinrich.
"But then the more we both experienced where the Senate is today, and the frustrations we have making it a more functional place - then we thought there was huge potential."
Both men returned home with a fervent desire never to taste coconut juice again, after consuming about 20 coconuts a day to stave off dehydration.
"Everybody's into this coconut water fad," Heinrich said. "Jeff and I are so over that."
Rival Survival airs on October 29 in the US, and is also set to be telecast in Discovery Channel's 200 overseas markets.


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Reality TV

US senators cross isle and share coconuts for reality television show

Senators Jeff Flake (left) and Martin Heinrich attempt to start a fire while surviving on the remote Eru island, part of the Marshall Islands, for the Discovery Channel's Rival Survival.

Jeff Flake (left) and Martin Heinrich

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