Cancer Survivor Conquers Reality TV After Beating Stage 3

Polly Pearson spent her 25th wedding anniversary climbing Machu Picchu, and her husband has learned to expect nothing less. The 59-year-old math teacher from Holdrege, Nebraska, has conquered mountains in Switzerland, Tanzania, and Bolivia, but her toughest climb came in 2023 when she was diagnosed with Stage 3 uterine cancer.

Two years after beating cancer through chemotherapy and radiation, Pearson is taking on a new kind of survival challenge. She'll appear on the second season of Fox's "Extracted," premiering January 26, where she competed against 11 other survivalists in the frozen wilderness of northern Canada.

When Pearson sent her application email, she expected nothing. She'd tried multiple times to get on CBS's "Survivor" without success, so the callback from "Extracted" felt like spam at first.

"I thought it was a joke," she said. But it wasn't. Producers selected her from roughly 40,000 applicants.

For three weeks, Pearson faced the elements with minimal shelter, food, or warmth after being airdropped into the wilderness. Her students at home call it "Hunger Games," and the comparison isn't far off.

She competed alongside her identical twin sister Molly and niece Bailey, who stayed in more hospitable conditions nearby to help win her supplies. Pearson thinks her age and twin connection caught producers' attention, but her real motivation runs deeper.

Why This Inspires

Pearson didn't brave the Canadian wilderness for reality TV fame. She did it to send a message to everyone facing the battle she won.

"I wanted to be a spokesperson for people who have gone down that road," Pearson said. "I wanted to prove that I may have come through that thing with scars, but it didn't have to define who I am."

After losing her hair to chemo and enduring radiation treatments, Pearson emerged determined to show cancer survivors they can still chase adventure. Her journey from hospital beds to frozen tundra proves recovery doesn't mean settling for a life on the sidelines.

"I'm still adventurous, I'm still tough," she said. "I'm not going to be a spectator in life."