It's a strange thing to see Survivorman out of his element. The man known for his self-filmed survival escapades looks slightly out of place on the 16th floor of a downtown Toronto high-rise. He is sporting his ever-present goatee and that constant air of seriousness, but he's also clutching something you would never see on one of his TV shows: a BlackBerry.

Even Survivorman needs to stay connected these days.

Survivorman, a.k.a. Les Stroud, 47, is taking a break from his legendary adventures in the great outdoors to talk about his new show, Survive This. The series, which premieres Tuesday night on YTV, plucks eight teenagers from their respective backgrounds and tosses them into the great outdoors. Stripped of their iPods and cellphones, the teens must endure the wilderness and various challenges until they decide to call it quits. Stroud is adamant that this isn't like Survivor, with alliances, eliminations, prizes and bikinis. It's teenagers trying to hack it with just the basics: shelter, food and water. In a word, they must "survive."

"They have to do what Les Stroud does as Survivorman," says Stroud, in his composed, serious tone. "The beauty of what I do is damn real. There's nothing realer than what I do when I get out there and we've been able to do that with eight teenagers."

Stroud understands why his acclaimed show, which ran for three seasons on the Outdoor Life Network and Discovery Channel, quickly became a favourite with fans and critics alike. It's authentic. Only equipped with his clothes, camera equipment, Leatherman multi-tool and trusty harmonica, Stroud would isolate himself in some of the world's harshest environments for a week.

"People love my show and the credibility of it, because they always say, 'This guy is the real deal,'" says Stroud.

It's because of the authenticity that he knew kids would be interested in mirroring Survivorman. In fact, when Stroud first pitched Survivorman, he wanted it for a kid's network.

"All the way through Survivorman I thought I needed to make this a kids' show," he says. "Nine-year-olds can do this, we just couldn't legally produce the show. But kids can do this."

Sending a group of untrained, inexperienced teenagers into the wilderness does hold some liabilities and risks, however. But Stroud, the man who enjoys jumping from a helicopter into the ocean with a gang of encircling "lathered-up, ready-to-go" sharks says it's all about the calculated risks. Because, according to him, he's a chicken.

"I'm a big chicken. I don't want do this stuff and lose limbs and lose my life. I have kids," he says with a slight smirk. And the teenagers did get cuts and bruises and the typical wilderness stuff, says Stroud. "But the risks were calculated, so my worry was minimized."

Although Stroud called it quits on Survivorman last year after filming the last episode in Papua New Guinea, he wants to be clear that the public will be seeing more of Les Stroud in numerous capacities.

"It's a mix-bag. Yes, the third season was the last season of Survivorman," he says. "And, no, you haven't seen the last of Les Stroud. And what I will do next will be in keeping with what I do… It's just not going to be in the framework of Survivorman."

He’s not kidding. He recently penned Survive! - Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere - Alive!, finished filming Shark Week with Discovery Channel and is working on what he's calling a theatrical film and music tour. He's also working on getting his pilot's license for good measure.

Although Survivorman, at least under that title, is done for the time being, many wonder if Survive This will reach the heights that Stroud set. Since he single-handedly created, produced, hosted, wrote, filmed, edited and composed the music for his original pilot of Survivorman, things may change when a production company takes the reins.

"The beauty of this is that it's not that reality show-style like so many kids shows. These kids have to do what I do right to the end," says Stroud, who was involved with the early consulting and editing stages. "If I wasn't proud of this, I wouldn't be doing this interview.

"I don't make reality TV; I document something I do for real. There's a big difference."


Survive This airs Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. ET on YTV.

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