SILVER SPRING, Md. – Discovery Channel, which airs the tasteless show “Man Woman Wild,” today gave away the surprise plot twist planned for the program during Fall Sweeps. The network confirmed that Mykel Hawke, the bizarrely spelled star of the fledgling reality show, will take his survival skills to a new level by cannibalizing his wife Ruth in the season finale.

Hawke, who became a survival expert when serving in an unnamed branch of the Special Forces rumored to be the Park Rangers, now pairs up with Ruth, a former TV journalist, to star on the show, which premiered on July 16.

In each episode, the couple is dropped off at an absurdly remote location with only knives and their clothing. The two must then “fend for themselves” for four days and nights, simulating a plausible real-life event that might leave someone unexpectedly stranded in places like the Amazon, Botswana, Tasmania or Pittsburgh.

Typical stunts pulled by the Hawkes during their four-day trials include urine and blood drinking (of themselves and hapless critters they encounter, respectively), rubbing sticks to start fires, boiling and drinking swamp water, feasting on carrion and the ritualistic killing and butchering of animals (Hawke speaks to his prey as he slaughters them) – all within easy camera shot of a sophisticated production crew that presumably is dining on MRE’s and Snickers bars.

Although the show claims the couple strive to form a team that is able to “stand up to nature as husband and wife in the wildest places on Earth where someone could get choppered in, pretend to be abandoned and manage a crisis entirely of their own creation,” tensions frequently rise between the pair during their travails.

Myke Hawke explains to his spouse and future protein source what a leaf is.

Mykel relentlessly patronizes his tenderfoot sidekick, frequently losing his temper as he lectures her in childishly simple words and inflections on survival truisms such as rattlesnakes will continue to twitch long after their heads are severed and salmonella can be encountered when devouring raw flesh.

“This show imparts vitally relevant information to the modern viewer,” says Burnt Calking, president and general manager of Discovery Channel. “In today’s world, one never knows when the grid might fail. Whether the end comes from solar flares, an EMP, or a Godzilla attack, you always want to be prepared in case you fall out of a helicopter somewhere over Tasmania.”

“In addition to the educational value, there’s clearly universal entertainment appeal in watching a special forces veteran drink bodily fluids and slaughter animals with a survival knife while being accompanied by a chick with an Australian accent,” he added.

With the introduction of cannibalism, the show is ready to “corner the market in reality survival programming,” he said.

“Being armed merely with a knife, our hero is only able to subdue those creatures dumb and defenseless enough to yield to his limited advances,” noted Calking. “We got to thinking – Ruth sure is dumb, and she’s quite defenseless, even armed with a knife of her own.

“She’d yield lots of high-quality calories and proteins to a hungry survivor. What could be more realistic in a survival situation than resorting to cannibalism?”

Calking said the attack on Ruth will be the climax of one of the typical arguments that arise during the show. “Maybe she’ll refuse to drink his urine again, or maybe it will be something entirely new.”

Whatever sparks the argument, Calking insisted it would be “mostly unscripted.”

“We know it will happen on the season finale, which hasn’t been filmed yet. Myke has been reading up on how to field dress a human, which we don’t believe has ever been done on television.”

The network said Ruth Hawke has not yet been notified of the planned plot development but that negotiations are underway with her agent regarding a bonus payment to be paid posthumously to Mykel Hawke to compensate for her being written off of the show.