Who Is Colton Gilman from Alone Season 12? What Happened

Spoiler note: this covers how his season 12 run ended.

Colton Gilman is one of the clearest examples on Alone of a contestant with plenty of raw outdoor competence still going home almost immediately, for reasons that had nothing to do with fire, water, or shelter. He was 35 during season 12, the "Africa" season filmed in the Great Karoo, and he tapped out after just 4 days, placing 9th out of ten, citing depression brought on by the lack of distraction rather than any physical setback.

That is worth sitting with. Gilman was not out-hunted or out-built. He described spiraling emotionally almost as soon as the cameras left and the isolation set in, and he chose to leave rather than push through it. Full details are on his season 12 contestant page.

Background before the show

Gilman's listed hometown is Red Lodge, Montana, though the data notes he was actually born and raised in Mason County, West Virginia, where he grew up exploring the woods and fishing local creeks and ponds. He is a carpenter by trade.

Detail	Colton Gilman
Season	12 (Great Karoo, South Africa)
Age at filming	35
Hometown	Red Lodge, Montana
Placement	9th of 10
Days lasted	4
Reason for exit	Left due to depression from lack of distractions

Web reporting fills in more of his path to Montana: after high school he worked as a deckhand on a riverboat, then went back to college to study wildlife management, and moved to Montana around age 25, where he and his girlfriend spent time exploring the backcountry and hunting with longbows.

Life as a carpenter, on and off camera

As of mid-2026, Gilman is reported to still be working as a carpenter and to own and operate a construction business, Peak View Construction, in Montana. He gave an interview on the "Born Primitive Outdoor" podcast in early 2025, which suggests he has stayed connected to the outdoor and bushcraft-adjacent community since his short run on the show rather than avoiding the subject entirely.

His story is also a useful reminder for anyone assuming Alone is purely a test of hard skills. The show has produced plenty of early exits from contestants who could have built a fine shelter and caught fish, but who were not prepared for weeks of total solitude with no task list, no phone, and no one to talk to. Gilman's own explanation, that he could not point to a single trigger beyond the isolation itself, lines up with how other early-boot contestants across the franchise have described the same mental wall.

He also reportedly used blunt, direct language on camera about the experience, stating plainly that depression is real and that he had spiraled into a place he could not fully explain. That kind of candor is relatively rare in reality competition footage, and it is part of why his short run gets referenced in discussions about the show's more honest moments around mental health rather than being dismissed as a quick, forgettable exit.

How his run compares

Nine days lasted 4 days is on the shorter end even among quick exits, most of which at least involve an injury or a specific incident. If you want to see how his run stacks up against the rest of that cast, the season 12 page has the full field, and our FAQ covers how tap-outs and evacuations are generally classified on the show. The winners page has the full list of who has actually gone the distance, for contrast.