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| Nero Buys Alone Season 13: Where Is the Contestant Now? |
Nero Buys has emerged as one of the more memorable contestants from Alone Season 13, thanks to a survival strategy built around patience, practical knowledge and knowing when not to make a stupid decision. Dropped in the Richardson Mountains north of the Arctic Circle, the Australian bushcraft expert faced brutal cold, isolation and limited food alongside the other contestants. While the environment quickly exposed weaknesses, Nero kept his approach simple: secure calories, preserve what he could and avoid wasting energy. His early success with a large beaver proved particularly important, giving him both food and a sizeable store of rendered fat that became increasingly valuable as winter tightened its grip.
Nero entered Alone Season 13 with considerable wilderness experience, particularly from years spent learning and working in the Canadian boreal forest. That background helped him avoid the frantic mistakes that can make the opening days of Alone feel like an extremely cold version of watching someone repeatedly lose their keys. Rather than rushing around for the sake of looking productive, he concentrated on building a sustainable routine and preparing for the weeks ahead.
The beaver became a genuine turning point. Nero managed to secure a large animal early in the competition and rendered roughly five pounds of fat, carefully preserving it for later use. In an environment where every calorie matters, that reserve was far more important than simply having a big meal and celebrating for five minutes. He also trapped hares and demonstrated a measured approach to hunting, even releasing one rather than taking food he did not necessarily need at that moment.
As the season progressed, however, his experience did not make him immune to the realities of prolonged isolation. Nero dealt with hunger, muscle cramps and the mental strain that comes with spending extended periods alone in an unforgiving landscape. Activity from bears around his camp also forced him to rethink how he handled fish remains, because apparently surviving the Arctic was not complicated enough without having to consider who might be stopping by for dinner.
Despite those pressures, Nero continued fishing, trapping and preserving food rather than relying on one successful early hunt. That consistency became increasingly important as the competition narrowed. By the time he reached the final three, his careful preparation had left him in comparatively strong shape, underlining why his performance stood out among a cast facing the same unforgiving conditions.
Away from Alone, Nero has built a life around the outdoors that is considerably bigger than appearing on a survival programme. His path there was hardly conventional. After leaving school without much enthusiasm for finishing the traditional route, he trained as a boilermaker and welder, following an interest in practical work and creating things with his hands. The trade eventually failed to provide the satisfaction he wanted, prompting him to take another direction by joining the Australian Army as a fitter machinist and armourer.
Nero spent around seven years in the military and travelled to Afghanistan in 2010, including work connected with Australia's SASR unit. His career later changed dramatically when he became a father. He stepped away for roughly eight years, spending much of that period as a stay-at-home dad while continuing to develop his interest in bushcraft and outdoor skills. What could have looked like a career detour ultimately became the foundation for what he does today.
His time with his son, Lockie, played an especially important role in that transition. Nero spent years exploring the outdoors with him while developing his own bushcraft abilities, eventually turning that passion into something he could share with other families. He worked with outdoor education programmes, travelled internationally and later decided that it was time to build something of his own.
In 2023, Nero launched NaturePost, an outdoor programme aimed at children and parents. The project focuses on helping young people become more comfortable outdoors while learning practical skills and developing a stronger connection with their surroundings. He also operates a 12-month mailing programme designed to encourage children to engage with nature throughout the year, rather than treating outdoor learning as something that happens only when the weather behaves itself.
Nero has also continued his work as an educator through his website and YouTube channel, where he shares material covering bushcraft, wilderness skills, camping, outdoor confidence and survival techniques. His military background, years in the bush and experience as a father all feed into the way he approaches teaching. Instead of presenting outdoor life as some dramatic battle against the elements, his work tends to focus on practical knowledge and becoming more capable in nature.
That passion has hardly slowed down since his time on Alone. In March 2026, Nero took part in an expedition along the LaCloche Heaven’s Gate Loop, another reminder that his relationship with the outdoors did not begin with television and certainly did not end when filming wrapped. For him, wilderness experience appears to be less of a television stunt and more of a long-term way of life.
His family has also remained central to that journey. Nero's wife, Jen, and his son, Lockie, have been an important support system, particularly during the years when Nero was figuring out what he wanted his next chapter to look like. His time as a stay-at-home father helped strengthen his bond with Lockie and gave him the opportunity to combine family life with his growing passion for bushcraft.
Jen has also encouraged Nero's ambitions. In 2024, she sent him to Canada for what was intended to be a winter expedition with Kie and Dave Marrone through Lure of the North. The plan was supposed to last only a couple of months, but things naturally became rather more complicated. The expedition continued for considerably longer, and eventually Jen and Lockie joined Nero, turning what began as an individual adventure into a family experience.
Fans' reactions to Nero's Alone journey have understandably varied. Some viewers have admired his calm, methodical approach and the way he appeared to understand that long-term survival is about consistency rather than flashy moments.
Others have found his slower, more deliberate style less dramatic than contestants who constantly seem one bad decision away from creating their own emergency. That divide is part of what makes Nero interesting to watch: he does not necessarily play the game in the loudest way, but his decisions tend to make more sense when viewed over the entire competition.
My informal take is that Nero's biggest strength was never simply knowing how to survive outdoors; it was knowing how to think ahead. Plenty of people can make a fire, set a trap or celebrate after finding food, but Alone rewards the person who can look at that success and immediately ask what happens next. The beaver and stored fat were clever because Nero understood that tomorrow's problems would probably be worse than today's.
His background also gives his story more weight because he did not suddenly discover the outdoors for television. He spent years building practical knowledge, stepping away from one career, raising his son and eventually turning an interest into a proper educational project. That makes his post-Alone life arguably more interesting than simply asking whether he can last another week in the wilderness. He seems to have found exactly where his skills belong, and thankfully, that place includes fewer bears wandering around his kitchen.
For anyone wondering where Nero Buys is now after Alone Season 13, the answer is fairly clear: he remains deeply involved in outdoor education, bushcraft and helping families spend more meaningful time in nature. His work with NaturePost, his educational content and continued expeditions suggest that Alone was another chapter rather than the destination. His story also leaves an obvious question for viewers: did Nero's approach make him one of the smartest survivalists of the season, or was his method simply less entertaining than the chaos around him?