I’d rather drink eel-infested lake water than put my hand up for Alone Australia – which is what makes it such great TV

The cast of Alone Australia. Emily Milligan writes of the SBS show: ‘It seems very difficult, very cold and very uncomfortable. Kill me quickly rather than any of that.’ Photograph: SBS

I don’t enjoy watching innocent people suffer, but one exception is the show Alone Australia. Victims put their hands up to be left on a remote and desolate beach, hoping not to freeze to death, and if they’re lucky they may catch an eel and eat it raw. Needless to say this is my idea of torture. In my view, the $250,000 prize means nothing in the face of not having a warm shower with an elaborate selection of nice-smelling oils for more than one day.

The contestants are left utterly alone with a lot of camera equipment and film themselves building shelters, fishing or losing the plot entirely.