Steven Kelly (survivalist)
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Steven Kelly | |
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| Born | Liverpool, England |
| Citizenship | British |
| Occupation | Survival instructor, television personality, soldier |
| Employer | British Army |
| Organization | South West Survival |
| Known for | Survival and bushcraft instruction; appearances on Naked and Afraid, Naked and Afraid: Apocalypse, Naked Alone, and Racing to Get Home |
Steven Kelly is a British survival instructor, television personality and soldier. He serves as a warrant officer in the British Army's 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery and is the founder of South West Survival, a bushcraft and survival training company based in Plymouth, England.[1] He is known for appearing on the Discovery Channel series Naked and Afraid and its spin-off Naked and Afraid: Apocalypse, and for featuring on the E4 reality show Naked Alone and Racing to Get Home.[2][3]
Early life and military career
Kelly grew up in Liverpool and later settled in Plymouth.[4][5] He joined the British Army as a teenager and has served for more than 23 years in the Royal Artillery, much of that time with 29 Commando Regiment.[6] During his career he has deployed to Afghanistan and trained in environments including jungles, deserts and Arctic conditions.[7][8]
Specialising in survival and bushcraft instruction, Kelly has taught fieldcraft to British troops and partner forces. In 2018 he was shown training U.S. Marines in the Scottish Highlands during exercise Joint Warrior in coverage by the U.S. Department of Defense and Marine Corps public affairs.[9][10]
South West Survival and other work
Alongside his Army career, Kelly began running South West Survival as a hobby venture in 2015 after being diagnosed with a serious eye condition.[11] The business grew into a full-time bushcraft and survival training company offering courses for adults, children and corporate groups in Devon and further afield.[4] Local media have highlighted his work with young people and veterans, describing how he uses time outdoors and practical skills to build confidence and resilience.[12]
Kelly has also written about survival and mindset for international outlets, including pieces discussing life lessons from his Army service and the value of bushcraft skills.[13][14]
Television
In 2020 Kelly appeared on the Channel 4 dating series Five Guys a Week and the lockdown-era reality programme Lovedown.[15] The same year, regional press reported his participation in E4's nudity-themed race series Naked Alone and Racing to Get Home.[16]
Kelly later became a contestant on the Discovery Channel franchise Naked and Afraid. He first appeared in the seventeenth season of Naked and Afraid in the episode "Runaway Bride", and in 2025 was among twelve survivalists announced for the spin-off Naked and Afraid: Apocalypse, filmed in South Africa and billed as introducing a "franchise-first" escape-to-civilisation challenge.[17][18][19] Writing about his appearance, the British Army’s official magazine described him as a "career commando gunner" completing an extreme challenge with only a knife and basic tools.[19]
Writing and podcasting
Kelly is the author of the illustrated children's book Survival Ste & Benji Go on an Adventure: A South West Survival Story, published in 2021, which later received a Melanie P. Smith Readers’ Choice Award.[20][21] He has also produced a bushcraft and survival journal under the South West Survival name.[22]
In 2024 he launched The Survival Debrief Podcast with Steven Kelly, in which he interviews military veterans, adventurers and survival experts about resilience and outdoor skills.[23]
Romance scam victim
Kelly has been the subject of media reporting after scammers used his photographs without permission to run online romance frauds that deceived victims out of large sums of money. In 2021 tabloid and regional coverage reported that his images had been used in fake profiles which led to threats being sent to him by people who believed they had been scammed.[24][25]
In 2025 he appeared on ITV's daytime programme This Morning and in the finance website This is Money, which reported that fraudsters had used his pictures in schemes that collectively conned victims out of more than £1 million.[26][27]
Bibliography
- Survival Ste & Benji Go on an Adventure: A South West Survival Story (2021)
- Bushcraft and Survival Journal: South West Survival (2022)
References
- ↑ "Steven's perfect recipe for survival". Plymouth Chronicle. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Naked and Afraid: Apocalypse – cast and episodes". Discovery UK. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Naked Alone and Racing to Get Home". Channel 4. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Out of the Uniform, Into the Wild – Steven Kelly's Adventure After Service". Veteran Magazine. 7 September 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Steven Kelly: I love learning how to survive off the land". Dure Magazine. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Career commando gunner fascinated by the finer points of survival". Soldier. British Army. September 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Steven Kelly talks about the life lessons he learned after practising survival skills for 18 years". NetNewsLedger. 6 April 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Life lessons Steven Kelly learned after serving 18 years in the British Army". International Business Times. 6 April 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Marines Learn Survival Skills in Scottish Highlands". U.S. Department of Defense. 30 April 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "4th ANGLICO learns to survive, at Joint Warrior 18". DVIDS. U.S. Marine Corps. 22 May 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Steven's perfect recipe for survival". Plymouth Chronicle. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Hardy British Army soldier teaching survival skills on Dartmoor". Plymouth Herald. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Life lessons Steven Kelly learned after serving 18 years in the British Army". International Business Times. 6 April 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Steven Kelly talks about the life lessons he learned after practising survival skills for 18 years". NetNewsLedger. 6 April 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Liverpool soldier to star in new reality show Lovedown". Liverpool Echo. 2 June 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Plymouth soldier Steven Kelly to star in new reality dating show". Plymouth Herald. 5 June 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Naked and Afraid". Discovery. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Naked and Afraid: Apocalypse Sees Survivalists Face Franchise-First Challenge". People. 27 June 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 "On-screen survival". Soldier. British Army. November 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Survival Ste & Benji Go on an Adventure". Melanie P. Smith. 19 July 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Survival Ste & Benji Go on an Adventure: A South West Survival Story". World of Books. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Bushcraft and Survival Journal: South West Survival". Amazon. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "The Survival Debrief Podcast with Steven Kelly". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Brit soldier sent death threats after scammers steal his pictures". Daily Star. 7 September 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "'Creepy' Facebook message 10 years ago saved woman from losing £80k to catfish scammers". Daily Mirror. 11 September 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "Scammers used my photographs to con women out of their life savings". This Morning. ITV. 28 October 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
- ↑ "How fraudsters used Army dad's face to con women out of more than £1m". This is Money. Associated Newspapers. 28 October 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
External links
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