Extracted: Survivalist Competitor Meagan in the EXTRACTED "Gimme Shelter" episode airing Monday, Feb. 17 (8:00-9:03 PM ET/PT) on FOX. CR: FOX. ©2025 FOX Media LLC.
Last year, Baton Rouge native Meagan Delatte set out into the Canadian wilderness with nothing but a canteen of water, the clothes on her back, and a camera. Right now, viewers can watch her quest to win FOX’s new survival show, Extracted, each Monday at 7 pm on the network, or streamed on Tuesdays on Hulu.
Delatte, a fitness trainer now living in Mandeville, aimed to be the last of eleven amateur survivalists to endure despite threats of frigid temperatures, hunger, thirst, and wildlife. Miles away, family and friends—teams of two—supported competitors in a Hunger Games-style headquarters, with 24/7 surveillance. Their task was to negotiate supply drops, take advantage of rare communication opportunities with their survivalists, and ultimately determine if and when they should extract their competitor from the game to save them.
Delatte’s team was made up of her best friend, Abby Hayes, and her father, Gerrad Delatte. As the show nears its finale this month, we sat down with Meagan and Gerrad to discuss the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Tell me how this came to be. Did you sign up? What motivated you to accept this challenge?
Meagan: Me and dad were alternates on another racing, adventure series, but we didn’t quite get to the start line for that. So, the same casting director reached out to me, during the summer last year, and they’re like, ‘Hey you and your dad would be perfect for this.’
We auditioned, and then we were scrambling to find our third teammate. Abby worked out. It was great, and I’m interested to see more of their dynamic in HQ for sure. But, you know, why did I want to do this? I mean, why not? I’ve never done anything like this before. I’ve always turned to my dad for the whole survival stuff. He’s the one that should have been out there, looking at it now. But I learned a lot about myself. I hope that we see throughout the show, my grit and my endurance and my athleticism, and why all of that is very important in a survival state.
Gerrad: It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be in a production like this. Life is short, so why not have these awesome, creative experiences out in the wilderness? Who wouldn’t want to support their daughter out there in the wild? It was a trying experience for sure. I mean, it took a toll on everyone, just the constant stress. But if they said, ‘Hey, we’re going to do a Part Two of this,’ I’d be like the first one to sign up.
Meagan, what was going through your mind, being so isolated out there, with all that silence and disconnection? Wondering what was happening on the other side of things?
We had no communication with what they were doing in there. I mean, in my head, I’m like, is anyone listening to me? I would talk to myself literally every second.
For the first time in my life, I got to just sit there and figure out life around me. I did struggle, but you get to do that on your own. This was a personal journey. I just got married, I don’t have kids yet. I think I had some self-discovery to do, and I discovered it out there.
Extracted: Abby and Gerrad in the EXTRACTED "Gimme Shelter" episode airing Monday, Feb. 17 (8:00-9:03 PM ET/PT) on FOX. CR: FOX. ©2025 FOX Media LLC.
Meagan, tell me about trusting your dad and best friend with this role.
I understood that the families were strategizing, and they’re fighting for my life, for warmth. The rain was coming, temperatures are dropping. So, what is your family going to do in order to help? The word “trust” kept coming to me, and there were no ifs, ands, or buts—I trusted in my team. I had no other choice, really, though.
How was that from your end of things, Gerrad?
Yes, trust. When we were in those situations, making those decisions, like who gets supplies—you have to think about what your survivalist needs, and if they really, really need that item. And if it’s a situation where you can back away and sit out, that builds goodwill with the other families for the future. It’s a tradeoff. So that was kind of the negotiations going on. It’s strategy, but also, sometimes you had to stand up and say, ‘No, I need this for my person.’ You had to stand your ground at certain points.
Meagan, how did your experience as a wellness and health professional help you in this experience?
When I was going into this show, I knew my body so well. I knew what it could handle. I had a pretty bad ski accident years ago, had four knee surgeries, all these things. I was probably in the best shape of my life going into it, which definitely helped. I trained for it, on a different level than other people might have, like for a race. Should I have done more survival stuff? Probably. But my endurance, I think, the level of where I was at with my body, 1000% helped. I mean, I was the first female to make it across for the raft challenge and the navigation challenge. And that speaks a lot to the importance of being fit for this experience.
Meagan, can you share about how you managed your mental health as well during this experience? How did you manage to stay calm and avoid panicking or giving up entirely?
Going back to my big accident—I mean there was a point where I couldn’t walk. I had to relearn how to walk. So going through all of that helped me out there in knowing that this is not terrible. So what if I can’t start a fire, it’s not the end of the world. I’ll try tomorrow. I think I got more patient with myself as the days went on. I’m so fast paced, I had to slow things down, mentally.
Extracted: Survivalist Competitor Meagan in the EXTRACTED "The Hunt" episode airing Monday, Feb. 24 (8:00-9:03 PM ET/PT) on FOX. CR: FOX. ©2025 FOX Media LLC.
Did you bring any Louisiana influence/experiences with you out into the wilderness that helped you survive?
Meagan: I’ll say this, Louisiana is family. It’s tradition. I think trusting in our families in HQ, knowing that my dad had my back, Abby had my back, and they were going to do whatever it took to get me through that night, through the next day—I think that did help.
Now, it being so hot here did not help me. It was wet and cold. That part was not fun.
Gerrad: I think us living in South Louisiana with all the hurricanes and natural disasters, we have had to adapt. I think that helped us, in certain situations. We’re used to things happening beyond our control. And that is what this show represents—how do you handle those situations?
How have you been changed by this experience?
Meagan: I feel like I’ve gained a new family from this with everyone—we were all in this Hunger Games experience together. It was a true journey. And I had to do things I don’t believe in in order to keep going. When they gave us a deer to clean and eat, for example. I started crying. I don’t eat meat. These are decisions that you would make back home, that you have to throw out for this ride of a lifetime. I’m hoping that one day, when I do have kids, they can look back and be like ‘Oh my God, that’s my mom out there.’ You want to make your mark.
Watch new episodes of Extracted on FOX on Mondays at 7 pm, or you can stream it on Hulu or at fox.com/extracted.
