And with that, we have come to the end of Extracted season one! Created by Sylvester Stallone, the first season of Fox’s newest reality series shocked people from the very first episode; its premise is a spin on your usual survivalist setup, not only challenging a group of strangers to survive the harsh elements but having their every tough moment broadcast back to a pair of loved ones in a secure Headquarters. Whether they were out in the wilds or back at HQ, every contestant struggled, with shocking challenges and emotional twists making them consider what was more important: the $250,000 grand prize, or sparing their group more heartache by “extracting” themselves out of the competition.
It’s a decision that’d claimed the fates of eight contestants when viewers enter the finale, with the top four uniting for a final challenge to determine who will win. It was an intense trial filled with water travel, wilderness navigation, and our forest competitors trying to guess a word their teammates had decided on — a true test of their relationship — with one team rising above the rest to win the Extracted crown: Haley Lindell, and her cousins Karly and Natalie! Collider was lucky to sit down with these winners and hear about their time in the competition, what almost pushed them to self-elimination, and their advice for anyone trying to score a win as impressive as theirs!

Image via Fox

Collider: It is such an honor to be speaking with the winners and true “sharks” of ‘Extracted’ season one! First question, how do you all feel?
Haley: It’s really an amazing feeling. And just to see it, like watching it back, is kind of weird! But also really special to see our separate but kind of combined experiences came together and allow us to accomplish this.
Natalie: Yeah, it’s been unreal. Honestly, just getting to relive it this way too and experience it and celebrate it together has been so fun. So this has been another win, honestly, a win on a win!
Collider: What has been the experience watching yourself during the season?
Natalie: It is definitely weird, but luckily, I forget that other people can watch it, so I just think this is for us! But it’s really interesting seeing how [production] makes it all look and play out, but it’s so important that you don’t forget your actual experience. So it was fun watching it through the producers’ kind of view, but what I hold closest to my heart is our true experience there and how it felt in the moment.

Image via Fox

Collider: Now, Extracted is a team competition, one where all three competitors must be on their A-Game constantly to make it another day. What made y’all know going into this game that you three could win this together?
Haley: We just felt it from the beginning. From finding out about this experience…and one thing [leading] to the next, and the whole time we’re like, “Is any of this real?” And it felt like it wasn’t — until I’m getting dropped alone in the Canadian wilderness, and the helicopter flies away, and I said, “Oh God, it’s real!” [But] I think we just felt in our hearts that this is for us, that there’s a reason that this presented itself into our lives, and we just have such a deep belief in each other. I didn’t win this — we did!
Karly: This all came down to trust. And when it was down to the wire, and it all came down to that word [in the finale] and our trust in each other, it was like, finally! We knew that we could win this the entire time, because we believed in each other…lus having that word is so perfect for us, because this game isn’t just survival of the fittest. It’s about your family bonds, and that’s where we prevailed. So we were just a dream team, truthfully.
Collider: Now, y’all spent the longest time possible in this game, going through more challenges and twists than anyone else, yet you never even seemed close to quitting. Was there ever of a moment when you were close to extracting?
Haley: I told the girls, “Don’t ever extract me unless I explicitly tell [you to]. I don’t care if I say I don’t know if I can do this anymore — which I did! I was like, “That does not mean it’s over.” The only point where it really came into my head, where [extraction] became a possibility was that last night when we were relocated and my physical state was really just deteriorating. I felt my body falling apart and really just failing.
Natalie: One of the first things Karly and I did when we walked into HQ on that first day: we found our desk, we took the extraction cards and we got rid of them — out of sight, out of mind! We knew we were not going to be hitting that button unless Haley gave us those words. Because nobody knows Haley like Haley, she knows her own body, she can make that decision for herself…and her mind prevailed, and she got herself through it, and we came out on top.
Collider: And y’all truly did come out on top, as we can all see! Now, walk us through that last day. What were you feeling, how were you preparing, what was going through everyone’s mind?
Karly: You know, it really was a lot. It was very severe, and we were just so worried. We stayed in headquarters, and we were just monitoring her all night and taking shifts and taking turns…and then we were told it’s finale day, and we have 15 minutes to go get ready! It was a whirlwind. To know that [it] was the finale day, and to know how strong Haley is, like, the mind tricks the body, and the body tricks the mind! Magic just happened that day — it was beautiful.
Haley: It really was magic. Like waking up and getting the message that we were going to the finale trial. I think I broke down because the night before I knew, like, my body was shutting down. I [was] coming to the end of my journey here, and I just wanted to make it to the finale day so badly…so hearing that, I just broke down. I was like, Oh my God. Like, we made it, and I can do this!

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Collider: Okay, so we often see stars — especially winners — go on to absolutely dominate other reality shows! Are there any others y’all could see yourself competing on?
Haley: I want to be on Survivor. It’s been my dream forever, I’ve applied before — I’ve [even] gotten a call back! So yeah, Jeff Probst, if you’re listening, I’d really like to not be alone this time, and I’m [ready to] try the social game!
Collider: Thank you so much for speaking with me today. So, here’s hoping that ‘Extracted’ goes on for many more seasons — but let’s just be honest, no matter who comes next, you three will go down in history as the show’s first winners ever! What advice do you have for future players who want to do what your team did and win it all?
Karly: I think you can have a lot of skill going into it, and you can prepare and be as strategic as possible, but it really is the team that you bring. And I think we all had the same mindset of just trusting each other and being as present and as grateful with anything that we were given.
Natalie: The number one thing that you need going into this is trust. If you’re pulling people into the show with you that you don’t 110% trust with your life, it’s not going to work.
Haley: Yeah, I will just echo that. Taking it day by day applies to the woods and HQ, and that’s what all of us did. Every night, I’m counting down the hours for the sun to come up, because I’m so cold and I wake up and I’m like, “I don’t know if I can do that again.” And I would tell myself I can do it one more day. It was never looking long term — it was only ever, “I could do this one more day.” And then the next day [I would do it again,] and then another day, and then eventually it was the last day. I really think that is the way to [win] this game.

Extracted

Release Date

February 10, 2025

Network

FOX