While any normally organized traveler repacks their bags a hundred times to make sure they haven’t forgotten anything, Nans and Mouts, on the other hand, strip themselves of all material contingencies. For 12 years and soon to be 13 (the 2025 season was filmed last spring), this duo formed on the benches of the National Institute of Applied Sciences in Toulouse has chosen to travel in total destitution. The two companions’ kit is limited to a knife, three cameras and a drone. Because their adventures, Nans Thomassey (38 years old) and Guillaume Tisserand-Mouton (aka Mouts, 37 years old), have chosen to film them and share them. In 13 years, the audience for their show “Nus et culottés” has jumped from 660,000 to 1,200,000 viewers on average.
The principle is simple. After setting a goal (to contemplate the Northern Lights in Iceland or to eat chocolate with the King of the Belgians, for example), Nans and Mouts embark on the adventure without a single piece of clothing, without a penny and without any means of transportation. . In exchange for small services, handmade objects, a poem or simply a smile, they will be offered clothes, room and board, a bicycle and even a seat on a plane… Which open the doors and hearts of others? “It’s this chosen vulnerability,” analyse Mouts. “We arrive with our personality, what we really are. We don’t judge, we don’t force destiny and we don’t try to impose ourselves. We sound “true”.”
Read also: “Naked and cheeky”. Soon a female version of the France 5 show?
Head to the Morvan forests
If the final destination coincides with the realization of the project, it is only a pretext to encourage wonderful encounters along the way. “This is what motivates us”assure Mouts. “Over the years, we have met incredible people, with extraordinary life stories”. Stories that are sometimes difficult to bear. “We are not shrinks”confirms Mouts. “Sometimes we are very affected by certain testimonies”. So, during the last adventure, “We met a man who completely shocked us. He was at the lowest a human being could go. It took me fifteen days to land emotionally”.
And like every coin has a reverse side, Nants and Mouts sometimes find themselves confronted with a reality which is diametrically opposed to the spirit of their concept: notoriety. “It’s true, we sometimes get recognized. In this case, we politely decline, it would no longer make sense”. And to limit their carbon footprint as much as possible, the “naked and cheeky” have decided to limit their future expeditions to the borders of France.
In this new episode, the duo sets off to discover the forests of Morvan (Bourgogne-Franche-Comté). Another new feature: the format. By going from 55 to 90 minutes, “we gave ourselves the opportunity to dwell at greater length on the history of those we met”, note Mouts. To the detriment of the rhythm, perhaps, the content now taking precedence over the form of the story. Some sequence shots can sometimes drag on a bit. On the other hand, the few extra minutes given to looks and silences undeniably reinforce the emotional power of the show.
France 521 h 05
