Note: This story contains spoilers from “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test” Season 2, Episode 4.
Just moments before Kelly Rizzo voluntarily withdrew from “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test” after a particularly brutal challenge, the directing staff (DS) told the blogger that her late husband, Bob Saget, would have been proud of her for persevering through her pain.
“I remember DS Q… was chirping in my ear a lot, and he did say, ‘your husband’s looking down on you — he’s proud of you,’” Rizzo told TheWrap of her final moments on the Fox reality series. “It made me happy in a sense, but then part of me was like, ‘Oh, don’t do this to me right now.’”
While Rizzo recalled thinking of Saget gave her “a little extra push at the end” despite her discomfort, she thinks her late husband would have ultimately supported her early exit from the intensive eight-day experience.
“I know what Bob would have actually been saying to me — he would have been like, ‘go home, take a shower, get in a comfy robe, lay in bed,’” Rizzo said. “[He] would have been like, ‘this looks horrible — you need to stop this now.’ “
Rizzo also guessed that Saget, who passed away in Jan. 2022, would have thought she was “nuts” for signing up for the show in the first place.
“Ultimately he would have thought it was really cool,” Rizzo said. “He would have been really proud and he would have been concerned for my safety and health. It probably would have been really hard for him to see that last day, but ultimately, I think he would have been really proud of me.”
Rizzo’s decision to withdraw from the series came as she, alongside fellow recruits Tyler Cameron, Tom Sandoval and Erin Jackson, were challenged to race against another team of recruits to transport a 220 lb. boat to a nearby lake. When the team was routed to bring the boat through a river, Rizzo exclaimed that she could not feel her legs and struggled to get back on her feet, before choosing to leave the experience.
“I had promised myself from day one that I would never quit just because something looked scary or something was uncomfortable or I just didn’t want to do something… that I would only withdraw if my body just couldn’t take it anymore, or if I got injured and that’s what happened,” Rizzo said, adding that the last challenged pushed her to a “breaking point.”
“I physically just could not move or go on,” she continued. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever been through in my entire life physically, and it was just treacherous.”
Below, Rizzo explained why she joined the Fox show, what household items she was surprised to miss during the experience, and how she feels about voluntarily withdrawing despite a past history of quitting things.
TheWrap: You’ve spoken about how you have previously quit things in life and that has made you feel ashamed. Were you any less inclined to exit this experience due to that pattern?
Rizzo: I kept my promise to myself that I wouldn’t quit just to quit, or just give up because I just didn’t feel like it or just felt uncomfortable. Even though there were some times, like that last day, that I really almost did, but I kept going even though it was so uncomfortable. I really didn’t give up until I physically couldn’t go on anymore. [It] made me feel better that it wasn’t due to being lazy or the reasons why maybe I’ve given up on things in the past.
Why did you first decide you wanted to go on “Special Forces?”
I’ve always had such awe and admiration for the Special Forces and for the Navy Seals — I always thought it was the coolest thing ever. I thought if you have an opportunity to even be in their world for five minutes, you take it. I knew I was always athletic and physically in pretty good shape, and I was like ‘all right, let’s see how far I can push this’… you find out a lot about yourself in those moments.
With what I went through with losing Bob, everyone had told me you’re so strong, and I didn’t feel that strong. But when everyone’s telling you that, you’re like, “maybe I am, so let’s see how strong I really am.”
How did you feel when you first entered the experience? Was it what you expected?
I expected it to be pretty hard because I did watch Season 1, so I knew what to expect on that level. What I didn’t expect was how bare bones it was going to be in terms of you’re not allowed [to bring] anything. People think when the cameras shut off — which they don’t, by the way, the cameras never shut off — that you get to have some comforts. No, you’re sleeping on a military cot with no padding or blankets or pillows. You have deodorant and a toothbrush and toothpaste and that’s it. No comb, no brush, no shampoo, no conditioner. Very few people shower the whole time because it was such a pain. I had to comb my hair with a metal fork. I didn’t think we’d be roughing it as much. Jack Osbourne was like “you get more stuff in prison.”
Despite the fact that you withdrew, are you proud of yourself for entering into this experience? What have you learned about yourself?
I am proud because I knew that I would have been proud of myself if I gave it my all and I did. Even though I whined and complained the last day a lot and cried like a baby a lot, ultimately, it really pushed myself to the absolute limits.
I found out what those limits were and it was farther than I thought it was — certain things like sleeping in a room with 14 people, I was like “there’s no way I can do that” and I did it — I managed to do it. There were a lot of things that I learned about myself, that I can go out of my comfort zone and push myself and come through on the other side.
“Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test” airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on Fox and streams next-day on Hulu.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
