Will “Big South” Fleming, 18, stands 6 and a half feet tall, weighs 230 pounds, wears a size 15 shoe and is an avid hunter.
He visited Kinston Tuesday to help honor Wayne Brock, the chief Scout executive of the Boy Scouts of America who was named Distinguished Citizen of the Year.
Fleming, an assistant Scoutmaster and Eagle Scout, drove in from Raleigh. But recently, he was in California’s Sequoia Forest proving just how tough a Boy Scout can be.
He was selected as one of 11 Scouts to be cast members of the pilot reality show, “Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout?”
The nationally syndicated television show, hosted by ex-Army Ranger Charles Ingram, airs at 8 p.m. Mondays on the National Geographic Channel.
On the show, which premiered Monday, Fleming is known as “Big South” because he’s the only Scout selected from the South and, well, he’s big — and formidable.
“They were looking for, I guess, tough Scouts,” he said rather humbly.
He was the only Scout that had participated in competitive skeet shooting, which gave him an edge.
Each episode matches three willing adults with six Boy Scouts who challenge them to become
“Prepared for Life,” as the Scouts’ motto goes.
Those challenges may include crossing a gorge on a commando line, finding their way alone in the woods during an orienting challenge, administering first aid to an injured hiker or feeding breakfast to a group of hungry Cub Scouts — each reinforcing valuable Scouting skills.
But it’s not all fun, games and merit badges. Each adult is evaluated as to physical endurance, strength, agility and smarts, as outlined in the Boy Scouts' 100-year-old handbook, and the grueling elimination competition gradually leaves one man left standing.
The worthy opponent will go on to challenge the Scouts in one final test to finally learn if he is truly tougher than a Boy Scout.
Fleming, who earned his Eagle Scout award by building an outdoor chapel for his church in Raleigh that seats 48 people, said the casting call began in California and was expanded to the eastern states. He submitted his name and got a phone interview the next day followed by a camera interview a day later. Within days, he was in California for the filming of the pilot episode.
The purpose of the television series is to show young people what Scouting is all about and get them interested in joining, Fleming said.
“Scouting kind of has a stereotyping,” he said, “and we really want to get away from that and show what Scouting actually is — about getting out in the outdoors and having fun, and that’s what the show shows.”
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.
Breakout box:
‘Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout?’ airs 8 p.m. Mondays on the National Geographic Channel. For more information about Scouting or Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout?, go to scouting.org or toughscout.com.