Woniya Thibeault, the first and only female winner of Alone, is expecting her first baby with boyfriend Taylor Donovan.
“Bring on the next adventure!” Thibeault, 47, exclusively told Us Weekly of her happy news. “I couldn’t have been more surprised or more thrilled to find out at age 47, long after I’ve given up trying, that I was pregnant, and with a perfectly healthy little one.”
Thibeault made her Alone debut in 2019 during the History show’s sixth season. She finished in second place behind winner Jordan Jonas, lasting a total of 73 days. She returned to the competition series in 2022 for the spinoff Alone: Frozen, which followed six former contestants as they tested their survival skills in Labrador, Canada. Thibeault won that season, becoming the first (and only) female winner in the show’s history.
Thibeault told Us that she credits the show in part with helping her conceive her child.
“In a way, I feel that Alone did bring me my baby,” she said. “The profound healing I experienced through my two journeys, the incredible empowerment and feeling like there was nothing I couldn’t do, even the two long and deep cleanses — going so long with minimal calories, and only wild foods. I truly believe these were all part of me remaining strong, healthy, and fertile into my late 40s.”
While promoting her memoir, Never Alone, earlier this year, Thibeault came to think of her book as her baby, as she believed the possibility of becoming a mother had passed her by. “I even told a story live on stage at The Moth about how nearly starving to death in the Canadian wilderness helped me to find peace and let go of my grief about being childless,” she recalled. “Little did I know, even as I stood on stage sharing that story, a tiny baby was beginning to grow in my womb.”
The first time Thibeault competed on Alone, she initially kept herself going by imagining that winning the show’s $500,000 prize would help her have a baby. Eventually, however, the challenge helped her come to terms with the idea that she might not become a mom.
“The 73 days living by myself in the Arctic wilderness were so profound and life-changing that they helped me find peace for the first time with the idea of not ever becoming a mother,” she recalled. “When I learned I was the runner-up of the season, just short of winning, I was thrilled, not disappointed.”
Now, she’s looking forward to embarking on her next journey — albeit one that doesn’t require living alone in the Arctic. “Ever since winning Alone, people have been asking me, ‘What’s your next adventure, Woniya?’” Thibeault said. “I am now so thrilled to be able to tell them, ‘Becoming a mother at 48.’”
