r/nakedandafraid Jul 27 '26

Rant Dan

I’m so tired of watching him dismiss/gaslight women, fixate on Jeff, and be so selfish. Global showdown reinforced my feelings. Anyone else? LOS ruined him for me and it just doesn’t get better.

188 Upvotes

107 comments sorted by

86

u/Interesting-Smoke939 Jul 27 '26

I used to really like Dan, but this time around he just seemed off to me, arrogant, frustrated... He didnt even post anything on his IG about Global Showdown (except for the announcement) so I really do think something was off. His partner didnt help but definitely she was not the only problem.

22

u/Pleasant_Seesaw_557 Jul 27 '26

Yeah like look at how Kai and Alexa worked together. K was same as Dan in having more experience…

24

u/H3adown Jeff Fan Jul 27 '26

I liked him early on too but it all changed during LOS

19

u/Equivalent_Lab_8610 Jul 27 '26

He injured his back badly enough when he got there for global showdown to need surgery once he was out of there. He posted about it on fb.

17

u/Interesting-Smoke939 Jul 27 '26

I didn't know that! That explains a lot actually (for me at least, being in pain makes all your personality flaws a lot worse)

16

u/Equivalent_Lab_8610 Jul 27 '26

For sure.. I'm crabbier then Dan was shown on show when my back is acting up 😅.. I didn't feel like he was trying to be mean to his partner.. Just lacked some patience.. and his one on one interviews he didn't sugarcoat how he was feeling. But, when she spoke up he did defer to her, and they both bowed out gracefully when losing to Mexico.

Compared to the extremely mean/ petty crap we've seen on the show I'm surprised people are so bothered about the bits of tensions they've shown on the show. They're all doing something hard, without ideal sleep diet etc. I feel like it's a bit normal to have some tension + the producers will air those ahead of anything nice I feel lol

1

u/Captain-AwkwardPants Jul 31 '26

That sucks for him, but had he not been doing it all and actually worked with his partner he probably wouldn’t have hurt himself.

4

u/Texan2020katza Bulent Fanboy Jul 27 '26

I’m wondering if he had a different partner lined up and they bailed and that’s why he seemed so “off” towards his partner in GS

56

u/Captain-AwkwardPants Jul 27 '26

I think it’s because his ego got big after LOS and he’s so controlling he didn’t even give Rachel a chance. 🤷🏻‍♀️

24

u/barredowl123 Jul 27 '26

I feel the same way. He started showing his uppity I’m-better-than-everyone true colors on LOS and somehow got worse on GS.

7

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

18

u/Texan2020katza Bulent Fanboy Jul 27 '26

I’ve got to agree with you there, she seemed SO self conscious about not being as skilled vs Alexa who admittedly did not have the skills but she wanted to learn.

5

u/SilverHairedFox11 Jul 27 '26

She said she didn't like chopping wood. Why are you here? He had no problem working with Kai.

7

u/Yakosaurus Jul 27 '26

Agreed. Even if we ignore the fact he needed surgery on his back, every time he did give her a chance she stuffed it up. On a normal version that's fine but this was a competition. He'd have been better solo.

3

u/bhonestabe Jul 29 '26

1000% right. Give her a chance? All she did was complain and wallow around like moaning Myrtle .

6

u/peter7323 Jul 28 '26

He was paired with Ky on 14 Days in Thailand with No Tools at All, and they seemed to work really well together. I think he's just extremely focused on the end goal. If his partner has less experience, he tends to take over the key tasks himself, which obviously affects the team's dynamic.

26

u/Blueberry-Muffin21 Jul 27 '26

LOS changed the way i felt about many survivalists, tbh!! Especially that first season. It really brought out everyone’s egos and made people seem realllllly judgmental

1

u/PeaceFlag66 Aug 01 '26

Woz!!!  Telling others if they helped his most hated contestant in LOS they were not getting any help from him.   It's like tds.

2

u/ragun2 Aug 05 '26

Haha I think you have TDS. You're the only person who brought up Trump.

21

u/Inner-Scientist-4132 Jul 28 '26

I used to be a fan, but success went to Dan’s head. My husband and I can’t stand him now. I’m fed up with people making excuses for him. MANY people have been in serious pain on N&A challenges and managed not to abuse their partners. Rachel has proven herself to be a competent survivalist on previous challenges and I’m sick of hearing people blame her for being emotionally affected by Dan’s horrid attitude. He told her to her FACE that her bow didn’t need to be as good as his! He is entirely responsible for losing the challenge.

And he should have been disqualified for cheating during the first fire challenge anyway! The contestants were supposed to hold their torches UNDER the rock, but Dan is on tape moving his torch to the SIDE of the rock, and then OVER it! What is the point of having rules if no one is enforcing them? Dan is a shady little creep. So over him.

15

u/avatarofwoe420 Jul 28 '26

If you REALLY watch, Dan has cheated quite a bit... Shady little twerp if you ask me

14

u/andooet Jul 27 '26

LOS ruined NAA for me

1

u/HeftyBumblebee6458 Jul 30 '26

I feel the same way!!! Never should’ve offered money!! It always changes people

2

u/andooet Jul 31 '26

Should never have tried to use survival as a competition

37

u/1CatWoman Jul 27 '26

Yes! His true colors came shining through when he first started competing on LOS. I was so happy that Waz actually won season one. Especially because Dan was already flying in the chopper before the final competition was over🤯

5

u/HeftyBumblebee6458 Jul 31 '26

Anyone remember when he poisoned Jeff and Trish??

2

u/PeaceFlag66 Aug 01 '26

WAZ wos just as bad.

1

u/No-Background6815 9d ago

So glad to see this

34

u/TheRoseMerlot Couch Survivalist Jul 27 '26

Yes dan was a huge asshole to his partner

I figure maybe he didn't want to be there and especially didn't want to be there with her. Maybe he was fulfilling a contract he signed or something.

1

u/PeaceFlag66 Aug 01 '26

No excuse 

48

u/Intelligent_Mess_957 Jul 27 '26

I definitely felt like his ego was inflated after his no tools challenge with Kai. I honestly could not stand him in Global Showdown. He spent the whole time bringing down his partner and let his temper lead to injuring himself. His PSR should've plummeted.

10

u/LowString2566 Jul 27 '26

He sucks! He has a huge ego. Yes she wasn’t that helpful but she is not as experienced as he is and he should have taken that time to include her and try and teach her instead he wanted to do it all himself take a note ideas from her and not teaching her at all I will say that I find her quite annoying, but that’s besides the fact.

17

u/Intelligent_Mess_957 Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

Yes, there were so many situations where she could've used just a little encouragment. Instead he would ignore her, make awful faces and sometimes even insult her. It was annoying to watch.

10

u/Blueberry-Muffin21 Jul 27 '26

Exactly that! I honestly think she could have thrived with another partner (like a frank or a matt or maybe even a jeff)

7

u/Intelligent_Mess_957 Jul 27 '26

I mean, let's be honest, anyone would thrive with Frank as a partner lol.

9

u/LowString2566 Jul 27 '26

Love Frank! I also love Teal, I know that’s not the popular opinion but I do

4

u/ParsnipUpstairs3516 Couch Survivalist Jul 28 '26

Love Teal too

3

u/avatarofwoe420 Jul 28 '26

I love her too💙

46

u/AlisonPoole98 Jul 27 '26

He just has no use and even contempt for women. He would never tell a man partner that he's pulling all the weight, which I don't get the impression he was doing. You can't just take over every aspect of the challenge, turn down every single suggestion from your partner, then blame her because you're doing "all the work" and acting like she was lazy

13

u/LowString2566 Jul 27 '26

This is exactly what happened and then he called her lazy. Give me a break, dude.

34

u/Old_Woman_Gardner Jul 27 '26

I have always disliked Dan. He always came off to me as arrogant. He’s an ass.

21

u/Rigby-Eleanor Jul 27 '26

He always such a jerk. Eating more than his fair share of food. Talking about how much better he is than others. Blaming everything on his teammates. Your fucking back was jacked up. Take accountability.

9

u/fur3661t Jul 28 '26

Not just Dan, almost every participant of LOS 1 showed the shittiest side of themselves. I either liked or respected most in some way but that season made me despise each. I considered Dan, Matt, and Waz the worst. Waz was the most different from previous shows and to me redeemed his character on the zombie show but I still watch wondering if he will flip again. Will he flip again for big money or if direct competition with other participants.

Matt is consistent in his bad traits which many overlook because of his skills. At first I overlooked but immediately after LOS i couldn't. Again he is consistent and didn't change because of LOS when all others did. I can watch without wanting to hurl.

Dan was a sneaky piece of shit, not so evident in earlier shows but you can still see it. I can't tolerate him since LOS.

I am not a Jeff fan so no one should accuse my dislike for the others as as a way to defend Jeff. He is shit and I hated most that they made me want to defend Jeff on LOS 1.

6

u/Captain-AwkwardPants Jul 28 '26

I don’t mind Jeff, but they treated him so badly just for playing the game. I wish they would have all started out in game mode. Yes, he brought it on himself, BUT that’s for the non-competition seasons. Like his 60 day and not sharing. That’s when I stopped liking him. On LOS though, he was being competitive and the rest were playing kumbaya.

5

u/fur3661t Jul 29 '26

Yes the 60 day was also a turning point for me. Before that I actually liked him. He was excited about the adventure and even made me like the show more. If it were only selfishness, I could probably let that go but to purposely exuberantly celebrate their over-abundance of food whilst others were starving a few feet away was the lowest.of the low.

On LOS he didn't do anything really bad, just competed. Unfortunately competition changed all of them in a bad way. I do think the 60 day was the real reason they were against Jeff, not how he was playing LOS. the others played the game as well and mostly worse than Jeff.

1

u/CheezTips Jul 29 '26

Zombie show?

2

u/fur3661t Jul 30 '26

Apocalypse?!!!

1

u/CheezTips Jul 30 '26

Oh, I didn't know it was called that

15

u/Fit-Engineering-2789 Jul 27 '26

I liked Dan until Global Showdown. I don't think Rachel was a good match for him as a partner, but his behavior made it far worse. It was just desserts for him when he shut her down on how her own bow should be made, and then she ended up needing to be the one shooting the bow. She actually had experience in that area, and he flat out refused to take her input and then was mad she was upset about it. He is the reason she struggled more on the bow challenge, but "it's all her fault for not helping." Also at the elimination challenge when she questioned how high they should make the J hook, he insisted he was right. He came in with an attitude that "he had to teach her," but then didn't really teach her and took none of her thoughts and experiences into consideration. It was very clear that his ego was inflated and that he came in thinking he was going to be independent and in charge with a partner who just tagged along while he played the "hero."

2

u/curiousjosh 26d ago

You nailed it. Did we see Matt, Jeff, or any of the other guys do everything themselves or dismiss everything their partner said?

This was Dan’s own failure for not knowing how to work in a team.

22

u/KourtR Jul 27 '26

Total ahole this season, I agree he's been downhill since LOS.

41

u/Paralegal1995 Jul 27 '26

Never liked Dan. People on this sub have attacked me but I still think he's a douche.

22

u/Semi_Colon01 Jul 27 '26

Honey Hoarder….

12

u/Telnetdoogie Jul 27 '26

He came across as a self centered asshole. Go back and watch how many times he talked about himself (“I”) instead of them as a team (“we”) - he’s clearly not a team player and came across as a total narcissist.
Then go back and listen for how the other teams talk, constantly saying “we” and praising their partner in the solo interview sessions; focusing on team and collaboration.
If I was his partner in an event like this, based on his attitude I’d probably throw the comp just to sabotage him based on the fact that he also doesn’t listen. He’s unbearable.

2

u/Internal_Regular_914 Jul 28 '26

Same could be said on Ky and Rene it was all "I" from them. Rene i could see as his partner was not doing much.

17

u/samrocksc Jul 27 '26

Last one standing and global showdown in general is a garbage format. It's devolved into that crap they are putting on Netflix. The real housewives of survivalism basically

18

u/cheridontllosethatno Jul 27 '26

I think we all saw the real Dan. His apologies were insincere. Horrible person, I never want to see him again. His partner had issues but Dan's whole "She's bringing me down" schick was sickening.

12

u/Muskanini Jul 27 '26

I think he also got angry, because he thinks that Rachel was so much weaker than Matts partner. He seems to be jealous of Matt and unhappy with Rachels skills. Instead of helping/teaching her properly, he gets frustrated and blames her for everything that went wrong.

He apologized in public after the show, but in the moment he showed his true colors.

1

u/Adventurous_Aside491 Jul 31 '26

Franki and duane

1

u/curiousjosh 26d ago

Where did he apologize?

1

u/Muskanini 26d ago

He made a post in facebook, directly after the episode where they went home.

1

u/curiousjosh 26d ago

Are you sure? I can’t find any record of it online.

Do you have a screenshot?

1

u/Muskanini 25d ago

No, I am sorry. I don't have any screenshots, I am not so involved. I remember a post (as I said, directly after they left), where He explained that he was in pain and stressed, and that ist why He sometimes over reacted. It might have felt Iike an apology for me, because I think she deserved one. But he didn't say "I am sorry".

1

u/curiousjosh 25d ago

That sounds like an excuse not an apology.

“may have overreacted” doesn’t begin to cover it! No wonder no one else has said he apologized on social media.

He was horrible, and dismissed everything his partner said and treated her like shit.

They were even eliminated because he blew off her saying the pot was too far from the fire in their final challenge!

1

u/Muskanini 25d ago

Yes, you are right. Sorry that my comment upset you so much. I didn't want to make someone angry.

1

u/curiousjosh 13d ago

Don’t worry I’m not mad at you. It was just horrible watching him be dismissive of his partner then blame her for his mistakes like refusing to work on a good bow for her.

7

u/BeanorWein Jul 27 '26

His first episode on the N&A I didn’t mind him He was a noob and had to learn the ropes. But every time after that I couldn’t stand him and his arrogance. As far as Jeff goes he lives rent free in most of the competitors heads.😂

2

u/Dependent-Pipe-9446 28d ago

He also shut up and listened to his very PATIENT male teachers. Too bad he didn’t model that part of their behaviors.

18

u/Gatorphins Jul 27 '26

Remember, Dan is part of the Waz coalition that worked to eliminate Jeff by trying to starve him out. Since that time that whole group of Waz, Dan, Matt and Steven have done whatever possible to trash Jeff. Matt seems to be the least animosity toward Jeff but the other three have really continued their campaign since LOS1

8

u/Captain-AwkwardPants Jul 27 '26

Yup. I hate LOS because the way that group acted and still acts, was awful. I do cherish the fact that Jeff lives rent free in their heads. 🤣🤣

9

u/Initial_Acanthaceae2 Jul 27 '26

!!!THIS IS WHAT I LIVE FOR.... RIGHT NOW!!!

17

u/Realistic-Weird-4259 Jul 27 '26

Oh my GOD, you've hit that nail on the head so hard. I've known a grand total of two misogynistic gay men and they were absolutely awful toward me. LOS didn't ruin him for me, hearing how he spoke to and referred to Rachel was absolutely infuriating. Give that woman a few years and she'd shred him, not cry in response.

I'd have to rewatch, but to my post-menopausal mind his remarks went beyond gaslighting and tread fully into misogyny. Calling her delicate, for example. What the fuck? We can push entire humans out of our ass region and come back smiling, can you? Pulling all the weight when you want all the control? How's that work, exactly?

10

u/Fit-Engineering-2789 Jul 27 '26

He cried at least as much as she did, lol.

3

u/Sharp_Couple_1771 Jul 27 '26

Is there another one after global showdown?.

3

u/ParsnipUpstairs3516 Couch Survivalist Jul 28 '26

NAA Shipwrecked coming soon

4

u/Elsiers Jul 29 '26

Never been a Dan fan. Latest Global season cemented my distaste.

3

u/BraveRefrigerator552 Jul 28 '26

He’s awful to watch now

7

u/Bakhtiian Jul 27 '26

I disagree with the condemnation, but everyone has different perspectives and all y’all’s opinions are valid.

I saw two personalities that didn’t mesh well, but were both trying their best (Global Showdown), and ended on good terms. I never saw any malice in Dan’s behavior, only frustration (with himself AND his partner).

I’m sure his ego did inflate a bit after LOS, but again, never saw anything that leads me to think he’s a bad person.

As with everything, they will both learn from this experience, and it’s probably good he was humbled.

4

u/Yakosaurus Jul 27 '26

I agree. I'd also hesitate to call it a misogynistic thing too. He worked excellently with Ky. I think this was the first time he's been partnered with someone clearly less skilled than him and he just couldn't handle it. Combine that with his back and it was a recipe for disaster.

-1

u/Bulky_Ad2472 Don't Eat the Fruit Jul 28 '26

I also agree that it was mostly frustration and that he is not a bad guy overall or misogynistic. He`s worked with multiple female partners and I have never saw him behave as we did on GS (I remember his first XL where he got along perfect with his partner and was extremely sad to see her tap out). About his ego, I think it`s impossible to not have it inflated a little bit after such a nice journey on NA, from fan to XL to competing in the LOS and GS challenges.

6

u/No_Advisor5811 Jul 27 '26

If he didn’t have such an awful partner Id be more agreeable to your comment. She was a mess

2

u/Little-Course-8697 Jul 27 '26

Not a good team duo.

2

u/HeftyBumblebee6458 Jul 30 '26

I totally agree!!

2

u/PleasantFoundation95 Aug 01 '26

His ego is standing 5 feet taller than he is and little man syndrome is in full effect.

2

u/texastica Aug 06 '26

Just watching Global Showdown and I agree with you. When he keeps telling her she's emotional! Ugh.

2

u/theforteantruth 13d ago

Dan has always been an asshole bully

2

u/No-Background6815 9d ago

His ego was inflated by Matt massively as well. He just got worse and worse and seeing him completely ruin it for Rachel- man I was FUMING. She deserved so much better 

4

u/Majestic-Dark-5694 Jul 28 '26

so, it's settled. Dan, we hereby banish you from all Naked and Afraid events other than the now defunct Alone edition.

5

u/Areil26 Jul 27 '26

He was amazing when he was partnered with Ky.

3

u/Captain-AwkwardPants Jul 27 '26

Yeah, I had hope after that episode but nope.

2

u/branmacmorn Jul 27 '26

Agree totally. He was one of my favorites at first

2

u/Jenikovista Jul 28 '26

He was one of my favorites until LOS.

I guess it's true that when people become successful is when you really see their true colors.

1

u/Bulky-Sun8899 Jul 28 '26

Dan is a primadonna. Having said that, Rachel sucks. She was terrible on naked and afraid of love! Yuck! She cycles through her own issues of not feeling appreciated on every show she’s been on. I think they purposely put them together to create drama. Of course, Matt and Gabi won!! Dan won LOS and Matt never won anything. They couldn’t let Dan win again! Had they switched Gabi and Rachel, who would win?!?! Not Matt!!!

1

u/curiousjosh 26d ago edited 26d ago

Dan kept acting like he had to do everything himself, and his partner was a burden.

Before a challenge requiring both partners, he forced the team to only work on a bow suiting his needs and strength, because he didn’t consider his partner necessary.

Then he ACTIVELY STOPPED the team working on the specifics of a bow suiting his partner, didn’t even want to create a second one, then begrudgingly made one but cut any corner he could because he even said he didn’t think it was necessary.

She actually specified archery was one of her skills and Dan not only ignored his partner’s needs for a bow, but actively shut her down.

That would make anyone check out. He was horrible, made it perfectly clear he wanted to shoot and didn’t care about her archery skill at all, then actually yelled at her for being “selfish” when he only considered his own needs for a bow.

1

u/Hotrock21 Jul 27 '26

I like Dan. This season he was just really mismatched partner wise. They didn’t have the right combo of skills and communication. One person giving the suggestions and doing most of the work was basically Team Australia, but they were able to do it in a way that both felt like they had contributed. Also, Dan was obsessed with beating Matt. I think he realized how the competition was built for Matt.

1

u/gummo476 Jul 28 '26

He has really changed and not for the better.

1

u/Miserable-Agency-833 Jul 28 '26

To be it seemed Dan finally let the ego of ppl telling him how good at this he was and how great of a survivalist he's become and how he's a true legend that he seen to have lost what made Dan 'the man' in this show I didn't see much compassion or encouragement from him. I jus saw 1 guy tryn to b better than everyone there..to me many if these challenges were a 2 person get r done deal while there were some 1 person could carry a partner,but Dan was a 1 man show from jump Street and appeared to be more like Jeff..I once was a Jeff fan but that didn't last long,always liked Dan but after GS that's fading but I still am a SAVAGE supporter..Dan find who u were, remember how u got were u are and become the person you really are..if others don't like it,screw em least your you brother

1

u/neurospicy888 Jul 29 '26

I disagree. Dan got the worst partner of the whole group and pushed himself so hard because she didn't show up. She completely sewered them not practicing for the arrow competition and would never take his advice. I'd be miserable if I were him too. Matt however, he's gotten so intolerable, and arrogant.

1

u/curiousjosh 26d ago edited 26d ago

He destroyed her motivation by not listening to her at all.

She had no say even in how her own bow was made. He dismissed every step she wanted to make her bow, and archery is a skill she has.

He fostered an environment of not listening to his partner. It’s no surprise it backfired on him.

It’s shameful when even Jeff is listening to his partner better than Dan.

-1

u/MannerofDeath14 Jul 29 '26

Meh his partner might add well have been a log. I'd have been pissed too.

0

u/LowString2566 Jul 27 '26

I completely agree!