The cast list for season five of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test dropped earlier this week. If you aren’t familiar with the show, it’s a reality competition where celebrities are put through military-style training challenges by former Special Forces agents. There are no formal eliminations, so contestants either quit, get disqualified, or are medically withdrawn. Only nine contestants across the show’s four seasons have made it to the end.
The new cast is made up of the usual list of reality stars, actors, and professional athletes, including Candace Cameron Bure, Brandi Glanville, and Maxim Naumov. One name that stood out was Collin Gosselin. Collin has been speaking out about how Kate Gosselin abused and then institutionalized him at the age of 12. His memoir, “In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood,” is out on October 13. Special Forces premieres on September 24, which means it will still be airing when Collin’s book drops. Here’s more from Page Six:
Collin will be joined in the cast by several other current and former reality stars including “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum Brandi Glanville, “Selling Sunset” star Breana Tiesi, and father-daughter duo who also appeared on “RHOBH,” Alexia Umansky and Mauricio Umansky.
The rest of the ensemble is rounded out with “Full House” alum Candace Cameron Bure, “Orange is the New Black” actress Ruby Rose, former U.S. Rep. George Santos, NBA champion Matt Barnes, champion boxer Alycia Baumgardner, “Baywatch” alum David Charvet, actor Oliver Hudson, Super Bowl champion LeSean McCoy, Olympian Maxim Naumov, and comedian Hannah Stocking.
In the forthcoming fifth installment, the new group of celebrity recruits will attempt “to endure some of the harshest, most grueling challenges from the playbook of the actual Special Forces selection process,” per Fox.
Former operatives of Directing Staff (DS) Rudy Reyes, Billy Billingham, Jason “Foxy” Fox and Jovon “Q” Quarles return to manage the new troops’ training as the team gets deployed to Malaysia where they will take on “the world’s toughest test in the most hostile environment a soldier could operate in … the jungle,” reads a synopsis.
Collin has been through a lot in his 22 years. I wish him all the best and really hope he makes it to the end. The show’s challenges can get brutal, but he has a big advantage since he’s the youngest contestant and went to bootcamp to become a marine (a dream that Kate ruined for him). My older son watched the first season of Special Forces, so I’ve seen the episode where Kate got hurt and had to leave the show. You know it will drive her crazy if/when he does better than she did.
As for some of the other contestants this season, I predict the athletes and Ruby Rose will do well. I can’t see Candace Cameron Bure making it very far. Brandi Glanville may surprise us by lasting longer than expected, but George Santos is the most random person on this list. Why are we still giving him relevance? Was he just cast for the appearance fee? I can’t see him lasting longer than one or two challenges.
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I know Colin’s an adult and makes his own decisions, but I wish he’d make a life away from reality shows and competitions.