Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Special Forces: World's Toughest Test episode "Interrogation." Read at your own risk!
Special Forces: World's Toughest Test proved it was one of the wildest reality shows on television early when at celebrities left by medical transport in the premiere. Flash-forward to the finale, and I'm not sure this Fox series can get enough celebrities for another season if the potential participants witnessed what Danny Amendola, Dwight Howard, Carli Lloyd, and Hannah Brown had to endure. In the end, only two of those four made it through to the end of the ten-day program, and Brown and Lloyd confirmed to CinemaBlend that the final leg was just as intense as it seemed.
The final interrogation challenge Special Forces: World's Toughest Test was absolutely brutal. Participants had to memorize a cover story they learned long before their capture and repeat it to their captors while they endured various tactics to break their will. This included being frequently doused with water, denied sleep, and left in a container while being subjected to loud and disturbing noises for several hours. I asked both women how they managed to go through that without losing their wits, and former Bachelorette star Hannah Brown confirmed she almost did while detailing her experience:
It was so difficult. One of the hardest things I hope I ever have to endure, I hope there's not much more difficult than that. I was really tough. That was a time where I was like, ‘I don't know if I can do this much longer.’ I felt like I was going mad and crazy. And just like the position you're in, like, these really uncomfortable positions the whole time too. And for me, I kept falling asleep exhausted for a second, and then you wake up to screaming or metal scraping or, you know, a pig or woman screaming. It was really, really challenging. I think I just had to keep telling myself, ‘This can't last forever,' even though it felt like it did. It did last a really long time. But just knowing I was so close is what kind of helped me stay strong and get through it.
Hannah Brown has proven to the world she's a strong person several times over, but to be the only non-athlete to be in the final day of Special Forces: World's Toughest Test was truly something else. Brown crushed it, and I'm guessing she could crush any other reality show from here on out, especially with a Dancing With The Stars win on her resume as well.
Carli Lloyd is an Olympic gold medalist and Fifa World Cup champion, but she confirmed to CinemaBlend that she struggled just as much in the final stage as Hannah Brown. Lloyd even believes she might've blacked out at some point during the interrogations because there are chunks from what she saw in the episode she couldn't remember:
Yeah, I would say, I don't know where I went, what place I went to during that whole, last like 12-24 hours or so. I feel like I may have blacked out at certain moments. Like, I don't remember the water being thrown on us, actually, which was quite funny. I just tried to just tell myself that this wasn't gonna last forever, and just kind of went to a deep, somewhat happy place that I could think of and was able to come out.
Both Carli Lloyd and Hannah Brown showed throughout the process that they were able to endure the mental toughness of the trials in a way their fellow contestants could not. Danny Amendola's shoulder injury, combined with the stress of the interrogation tactics, finally led to his voluntary withdrawal. Amendola seemed like a sure bet to complete the program but ultimately couldn't handle the mind games.
Dwight Howard suffered the same fate, though he was removed from the program when he told his interrogator he was "ready to die" during the final hours of interrogation. Howard claimed he made the comment because the female interrogation officer was annoying him. The former NBA superstar was also found on the floor of the holding container and unresponsive prior to that incident but was later cleared after being checked by a medic.
The credits rolled on Special Forces: World's Toughest Test, and now the wait is on for if the series will return for Season 2. CinemaBlend already confirmed Dr. Drew Pinsky would like another shot at competing, but as previously mentioned, I would be curious to see who else would willingly sign up. Between Kate Gosselin's neck injury and Gus Kenworthy suffering a medical emergency mid-challenge, this is not a show for the faint of heart. As a viewer at home who doesn't have to participate, though, I'm definitely on board to see another batch of celebrities try to see if they can make it through!
Special Forces: World's Toughest Test is over at Fox, but anyone with a Hulu subscription can relive all of it from start to finish. I highly recommend anyone that missed out do so, as knowing the ending does not even come close to doing justice to what all these celebrities endured.
