Two senators, one island: Will they survive?

There’s at least one thing Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) wants viewers to know about the new reality show he stars in with Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.): although it’s from the producers behind “Naked and Afraid,” it bares no resemblance to the skin-baring series.

“I can assure you we were very afraid, and not naked,” the Arizona Republican quipped to ITK of filming the Discovery Channel show “Rival Survival.” 

The survival mission, filmed in August, pits the two political adversaries on an uninhabited island surrounded by shark-infested waters, where they’re forced to work together for a week in order to make it out alive. A press preview on Thursday at the National Press Club offered a glimpse of the hourlong show, and proved via a Q-and-A that both lawmakers did indeed survive the televised challenge. 

{mosads}“We wanted to make a point that Republicans and Democrats can work together,” Flake said, noting that it was he and Heinrich came up with the idea and approached Discovery about it.

Clips from the program show the two senators struggling to shuck clams and spear fish for sustenance. “Republicans are better at killing and Democrats are better at eating,” 51-year-old Flake says as he and Heinrich hunt for food.

“There are times when we were questioning whether we were going to make it based on water availability,” Heinrich, 42, told the crowd of journalists. 

But at least one form of liquid was plentiful on the island of Eru: “Everybody’s sort of into this coconut water fad, and I think Jeff and I are completely over that fad,” Heinrich said with a laugh. Heinrich later told ITK that he missed green chile cheeseburgers — a New Mexico staple — more than any other food.

Another sneak peek of “Rival Survival” shows Flake and Heinrich attempting to build a shelter at night. “It was my first time sleeping with a Democrat,” a grinning Flake tells the camera.  

Although it’s unlikely their colleagues in Congress will all band together for a bipartisan survival mission, Heinrich stressed getting to know one another on a personal level could ease gridlock in the nation’s capital. “One of the reasons why this town is having such a hard time functioning is not so much people are in different places, but they don’t trust each other enough to work together,” he said. “I think the six days we spent on the island did a lot to bolster our trust in each other.”

“I think we solved every problem in four [days],” Flake said, “except how to build a fire, and things like that.”

It wasn’t the first survivalist trip for Flake, who has made the trek to remote islands before for similar outdoor challenges. After photos of the shirtless senator one of such trip surfaced in 2009, he was dubbed “D.C.’s new beefcake.”

When ITK asked whether he and Heinrich were nervous to bare their bodies in front of the cameras as they braved the elements on the island, he replied, “Yeah, there’s that uncertainty that people will poke fun of us for that reason or for other reasons.” He then quickly added, “You’re not going to see anything — oh I shouldn’t give it away.”

He told us, “We thought it would be worth it no matter what to do it.”

“Rival Survival” premieres on the Discovery Channel on Oct. 29.