Reston Native Stars on History Channel's 'Alone,' Premieres Thursday Night

RESTON, VA — A Reston native will be starring in the season premiere Thursday night of "Alone," a History channel reality series that involves stranding people in a remote wilderness of Patagonia to see how long they can survive.

Britt Ahart went to South Lakes High School and lived in the Reston area for 30 years before moving to a place that he loves in Ohio about 10 years ago. But earlier this year he decided to get out of his comfort zone, and at 9 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 8, you can watch Ahart endure the harsh wilderness of southern Argentina for the Season 3 premiere of "Alone." You can learn more about the show by clicking here.

Ahart told Patch that he is a "big outdoor enthusiast," and "Alone" piqued his interest because it "seemed like the only [show] that was actually real without any assistance from anybody."

He said a friend of his talked him into doing it, and so he submitted his information to the show and was selected for Season 3.

Ahart was born in Washington, D.C. and his parents lived in Reston. He still has a lot of connections in the area, but loves his current life in Ohio with his wife, 6-year-old son, and two stepdaughters. In fact, leaving behind his family was the most difficult part of the show, he said.

"The isolation -- at some point it will probably get to everybody," he said. "I'm a very family-oriented person, so after a while, it starts to wear on you when you have no shoulders to lean on."

Having to leave behind a young son was especially tough.

"He couldn't understand the whole aspect of it," said Ahart, who tried to prepare him for it. "Then I was just up and gone, and the peeling off of that bandaid was very difficult. I remember my last conversation with him before I hung up. It was extremely hard because we were Facetiming. I could see him, and that was just a hard moment to separate not knowing when I was going to be able to speak to him again."

Ultimately, however, Ahart he got a lot out of the experience and was glad he had done it.

"I learned that I can push myself a lot further than I thought I would be able to," he said. "I learned that emotionally I can stumble a lot when I don't have my family, who are my crutches.

"I learned how loud your brain can be when there's no other sounds around except you."

Image via HISTORY