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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Breaking down the ‘Special Forces' season 4 cast — which celebs will survive the grueling test?
18 celebrities will push themselves to their limit on season 4 of 'Special Forces: World's Toughest Test.' The Fox reality show puts contestants through a series of challenges designed to replicate the United States Special Forces selection course. It's physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting, and most people don't have what it takes to make it to the end. During season 3, only two out of 16 recruits — Kayla Nicole and Brody Jenner — passed the course. The rest were disqualified, voluntarily withdrew, or were medically withdrawn due to injuries. Let's take a look at the 'Special Forces' season 4 recruits and see who has a chance at making it all the way. Kody Brown The 'Special Forces' Directing Staff (DS) tend to take issue with big egos, so I can't wait to watch them interact with Brown. The 'Sister Wives' star likes to have things his way, so I don't think he'll thrive in an environment where authority figures are screaming in his face and telling him what to do. Brittany Cartwright The 'Valley' star is certainly going into 'Special Forces' with determination. She and her husband and fellow 'Vanderpump Rules' alum, Jax Taylor, separated in 2024, and she's since been candid about his drug abuse and aggressive behavior. 'He threw my phone and broke it. He threw my laptop and broke it. He threw me into the rose bushes,' Cartwright said during the season 2 'Valley' reunion, which aired in July. Taylor denied the claims, but Cartwright said she had footage on her Ring camera. Cartwright will likely be seeking healing and transformation during her 'Special Forces' journey. The reality TV star is not the type who typically makes it to the end, but never discount a woman who's been to hell and back. READ MORE: Reality TV alum says costars got him kicked off show: 'My downfall' Randall Cobb Cobb is a former NFL wide receiver, who played for the Green Bay Packers, the Dallas Cowboys, the Houston Texans, and the New York Jets. It probably seems like a no-brainer that a pro football player would excel on 'Special Forces,' but history has proven otherwise. Season 1's Danny Amendola, season 2's Dez Bryant, and season 3's Golden Tate and Cam Newton all fell short of the 'Special Forces' finish line. Could Cobb be the one to break that pattern? Eric Decker Decker is another NFL alum. He was a wide receiver for the Denver Broncos, the New York Jets, the Tennessee Titans, and the New England Patriots. Despite NFL players' poor track record on 'Special Forces,' Decker has a leg-up on past competitors. Most contestants struggle with missing their loved ones on the show, but Eric is married to another season 4 star: country singer Jessie James Decker. Perhaps the duo will encourage one another to stick it out when the going gets tough. Jessie James Decker Jessie finds time to stay in shape despite having four kids — daughter Vivianne, 10, and sons Eric Jr., 9, Forrest, 7, and Denver, 17 months — with Eric. I could see her keeping up with her pro athlete husband on 'Special Forces.' However, the tight-knit couple seem like a package deal. If one of them ends up injured or wants to medically withdraw, I foresee them leaving as a unit. Andrew East Yet another NFL alum! East was a long snapper for the Kansas City Chiefs, the Seattle Seahawks, the Oakland Raiders, the Los Angeles Rams, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Washington Commanders. East has also competed on several seasons of 'American Ninja Warrior,' but he's never made it to the semifinals. Perhaps he'll be hungry to prove himself on 'Special Forces.' Like the Deckers, East is competing alongside his spouse, Shawn Johnson. READ MORE: See which Fox shows are canceled and renewed for the 2025-2026 season Gia Giudice Season 4 of 'Special Forces' is shaping up to be a family affair. Gia and her mother, 'The Real Housewives of New Jersey' star Teresa Giudice, will both put themselves to the test this season. Gia is only 24, and while she might be in better shape than some of the older cast members, her age could also work against her. She may find it harder to dig deep and push through the physical and mental anguish. Teresa Giudice Teresa served 11 months in prison for fraud, so she knows a thing or two about resilience. It'd be easy to count her out as a 'Special Forces' frontunner — she didn't make it past week two on 'Dancing With the Stars' — but reality stars often do better than expected. Bachelor Nation alums Hannah Brown, Tyler Cameron, and Nick Viall all passed the course, as did The Hills' Brody Jenner. However, I wouldn't be surprised if Teresa voluntarily withdraws like her fellow 'Real Housewives' stars Kenya Moore (season 1) and Denise Richards (season 3). Mark Estes The TikTok personality, known for his videos with his fellow 'Montana Boyz' Kaleb Winterburb and Kade Wilcox, is young (25) and in shape (he posts a lot of Instagram workout videos). I could see Estes making it far on 'Special Forces' — or going too hard during a challenge and getting medically withdrawn. Chanel Iman Iman is a supermodel, so we know she can perform under pressure. She's also spoken in the past about incorporating boxing into her fitness regimen, and there was a hand-to-hand combat challenge during season 3 of 'Special Forces.' It seems like Iman has a chance to do well on the strenuous reality show. Shawn Johnson The Olympic gold medalist is a legendary gymnast best known for her performances on the balance beam. She and East tied the knot in 2016, and they went on to welcome three kids: daughter Drew, 5, and sons Jett, 4, and Bear, 19 months. Johnson is one of the greats, but Olympic gymnasts strangely don't have a great track record on 'Special Forces.' Season 1's Nastia Lukin and season 3's Jordyn Wieber both voluntarily withdrew from the course. Brianna 'Chickenfry' LaPaglia Like Cartwright, LaPaglia is healing from a toxic relationship. She has accused country singer Zach Bryan, whom she dated from 2023-2024, of emotional abuse. She'll likely bond with Cartwright, as they've both called their past partners narcissists. LaPaglia, who is known for her Barstool Sports podcasting career, teased via Instagram that she 'cries a lot' on the show. Compared to the Olympians, LaPaglia may not be the most physically fit person on the show, but something tells me her emotional tenacity will take her far on 'Special Forces' season 4. READ MORE: 'Love Island' alum's costars call him out after messy split: 'A narcissist and a racist' Johnny Manziel Season 4 of 'Special Forces' is essentially an NFL reunion. Manziel was a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. The only other quarterback who's been on 'Special Forces' is Cam Newton, who often frustrated the Directing Staff with his ego. He ended up getting disqualified from the show. Time will tell whether Manziel is more suited for the Special Forces than Newton. Eva Marcille You might known Marcille from 'America's Next Top Model,' 'The Young and the Restless,' or 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta.' She's a very determined person, and I could see her making it far on 'Special Forces.' 'I will always be my biggest competition. Fear has never threatened me enough to give up,' she wrote via Instagram while celebrating the season 4 cast announcement. My money's on Eva getting medically withdrawn or making it to the end, because I don't see her quitting. Ravi Patel Patel is an actor best known for the Fox sitcoms 'Grandfathered' and 'Animal Control.' While he seems like an underdog, Patel called the show 'one of the best experiences of [his] life' via Instagram. He also teased that he 'got jacked' in preparation and 'crushed' the course. Perhaps Patel will put all the athletes to shame? Christie Pearce Rampone I like Pearce Ramone's chances. She's an Olympic soccer champion, so we know she's physically fit and a team player. There's also already been a female Olympic soccer champion who passed the 'Special Forces' selection course: season 1's Carli Lloyd. Jussie Smollett Smollett is going into 'Special Forces' with something to prove, and I can already hear the Directing Staff using his past against him during an interrogation session. In Janaury 2019, Smollett told police that he'd been physically attacked by someone who called him homophobic and racial slurs. A police investigation later determined that Smollett had paid two work acquaintances to stage the assault. In 2021, Smollett was found guilty of five counts of felony disorderly conduct related to the false police reports. He was sentenced to 150 days in county jail and two and a half years on probation. READ MORE: Jussie Smollett will make rare appearance in new Netflix documentary It will be interesting to hear the 'Empire' alum — who has consistently maintained his innocence — tell his side of the story on 'Special Forces.' The DS may be eager to break him, so I'm skeptical that he'll make it to the end. Nick Young Young is a former NBA shooting guard who won an NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2018. Despite his last name, he's one of the older male athletes on the season 4 cast at age 40. Is Young still in prime physical shape, or will he fall behind on 'Special Forces?' Season 4 of 'Special Forces: World's Toughest Test' premieres on Fox on Thursday, September 25, at 9 p.m. ET. Episodes will be available to stream on Hulu the day after they air. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to Have a tip? Tell us at Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
09-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kody Brown's ‘Special Forces' Gig Sparks Negative Buzz About ‘Sister Wives' Future
Kody Brown's 'Special Forces' Gig Sparks Negative Buzz About 'Sister Wives' Future originally appeared on Parade. Sister Wives fans are questioning the series' future as Kody Brown joins Season 4 of FOX's Special Forces: World's Toughest Test. TLC has confirmed that Season 20 of the long-running reality series has already been filmed, but Kody's leap to a new TV competition has viewers wondering if this marks the end of Sister Wives. On August 8, Kody shared an Instagram message with details of his new role on the demanding celebrity competition series. He posted a reel from the upcoming season, with an accompanying caption that read, "This was the most exciting experience of an age! Tune in and watch me and my peers suffer! Wanna see me cry? No…like full-on sobbing!" This rare social media post surprised many Sister Wives fans, who believed Kody was still contractually obligated to TLC and therefore, would be unable to film for another network. This led to online chatter about the show's future. On Reddit, fans speculated about why Kody would join another reality show if Sister Wives was still filming. They shared their theories in a thread about the new series. Parade Daily🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 "Sister Wives is dead, and he needs money to keep Robyn (Brown) in the style to which she's accustomed. That's what this is. He'll be doing the D-grade celebrity reality show circuit now. Get excited," deduced one follower. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alice Goldstein (@agelventertainment) "I can't wait until the Marriage Boot Camp phase of their career," a second follower penned. A third joked, "Next up, 90 Day Fiancé to find Robyn a new sister wife!" Finally, a fourth fan wrote, "Could you imagine him on Celebrity Big Brother? He would annoy the crap out of everyone in the house." Special Forces Season 4 was filmed in Morocco. Per the season's description, 'All recruits must learn the art of getting comfortable with being uncomfortable as they are faced with training challenges across the country's expansive desert terrain, including a supply search in an abandoned village where they must race to extraction, a treacherous rat-run through dark and narrow tunnels, a plane shell dunk drill where pairs of recruits will be submerged underwater and must escape, a death-defying urban ladder crossing between buildings 50 ft above the urban streets, and much more.' The reality series subjects celebrities to grueling challenges faced by real U.S. Special Forces candidates. Although the series has no formal eliminations, contestants can choose to hand in their armband and exit the competition at any time. Kody will compete against RHONJ star Teresa Giudice and her daughter Gia Giudice; RHOA star Eva Marcille, The Valley's Brittany Cartwright, and actor Jussie Smollett. Also competing are Eric Decker and wife Jessie James Decker, podcaster Brianna 'Chickenfry' LaPaglia, Mark Estes, Olympian Shawn Johnson and her husband Andrew East, model Chanel Iman, actor Ravi V. Patel, Olympian Christie Pearce Rampone, NBA star Nick Young, and former NFL players Randall Cobb and Johnny Manziel. Special Forces: World's Toughest Test Season 4 premieres Thursday, Sept. 25, at 9 p.m. on Fox. Sister Wives remains on hiatus. Kody Brown's 'Special Forces' Gig Sparks Negative Buzz About 'Sister Wives' Future first appeared on Parade on Aug 9, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
07-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jussie Smollett returns to Fox after hate crime hoax fallout
Actor Jussie Smollett, who hasn't been seen on television since he was accused of staging a hate crime in 2019, will mark his return to Fox in 'Special Forces: World's Toughest Test.' The competition series, which also features reality stars Teresa Giudice and Kody Brown, will follow 18 famous faces as they face off in a series of intense challenges used in real-life military trainings. Smollett, 43, previously starred in the music drama 'Empire' from 2015 to 2019. He left the show after claiming two men attacked him on a Chicago street and threw a noose around his neck while spewing racial and homophobic slurs. Both men later came forward saying they were hired by Smollett to stage the incident, which Smollett has denied. He was charged with filing a false police report and disorderly conduct. 'Empire' creator Lee Daniels subsequently wrote him out of the Fox series. 'That whole situation was complicated. I still don't know what to believe,' Daniels admitted in an interview with The Breakfast Club last August. 'People say he didn't do it, he did do it. God bless him on his journey.' Despite the controversy, Daniels said he's open to working with Smollett again on a future project. Charges against Smollett were initially dropped after a month in exchange for his completion of community service, but after another investigation in 2020, Smollett was charged again. The case ultimately went to trial, where the actor was found guilty and sentenced to 150 days in jail. In November, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned Smollett's conviction as part of a plea deal in exchange for community service and the forfeiture of his $10,000 bond. He also agreed to donate at least $50,000 to Chicago's Building Better Futures Center for the Arts to resolve the city's lawsuit against him. In May, Smollett released a statement saying he's ready to 'move forward.' 'I will continue creating my art, fighting passionately for causes I hold dear and defending my integrity and family with the name of truth,' he said. Season 4 of 'Special Forces: World's Toughest Test' premieres on Fox Sept. 25.
Yahoo
07-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Sister Wives' Kody Brown Breaks Instagram Silence With 'Special Forces' News: Fans Outraged
'Sister Wives' Kody Brown Breaks Instagram Silence With 'Special Forces' News: Fans Outraged originally appeared on Parade. Sister Wives star Kody Brown has ended his social media silence to announce he's joining Season 4 of FOX's Special Forces: World's Toughest Test. The series puts celebrities through grueling military-style training led by an elite team of former Special Forces operatives. But while Brown seemed excited about the reveal, fans were far less enthusiastic about the news. On Aug. 6, Kody posted an Instagram reel teasing his appearance on the FOX series. He added in a caption, "This was the most exciting experience of an age!" "Tune in and watch me and my peers suffer! Wanna see me cry? No…like full on sobbing!" he asked. The reality star last posted on Instagram in March 2024 to honor the life of his late son, Garrison Brown. It has been 17 months since he last shared any news or photographs on the social media site, and he has only posted on Instagram a total of 13 times since opening an account in 2017. Parade Daily🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 However, fans were quick to lash out at Kody's announcement, calling out past claims on Sister Wives that he couldn't leave wife Robyn Brown and his family for extended periods. Many pointed to a particularly controversial moment in 2020, when he refused to travel with then-wife Christine Brown to New Jersey for their daughter Ysabel's critical spine surgery. Now, viewers are slamming him for seemingly having no issue stepping away to film an entire season of a reality show. "He could leave Robyn and the little kids for this? But he couldn't leave them to be present for [Ysabel]'s surgery?!" questioned one follower. A second wrote, "Wow, he left His beautiful, shy wife? thought he couldn't be away from the tenders for more than 3 days?" "Too bad [second wife] Janelle Brown isn't on it, cause she'd beat him on day one. She's the tough one," a third Sister Wives viewer claimed. A fourth concluded, "This post backfired immediately." Season 4 of the FOX series will feature the following celebrities from across all genres of entertainment. The series stars Kody, RHONJ star Teresa Giudice and her daughter Gia Giudice; RHOA star Eva Marcille, The Valley's Brittany Cartwright, and actor Jussie Smollett. Also competing are Eric Decker and wife Jessie James Decker, podcaster Brianna "Chickenfry" LaPaglia, Mark Estes, Olympian Shawn Johnson and her husband Andrew East, model Chanel Iman, actor Ravi V. Patel, Olympian Christie Pearce Rampone, NBA star Nick Young, and former NFL players Randall Cobb and Johnny Manziel. Special Forces: World's Toughest Test Season 4 premieres Thursday, Sept. 25, at 9 p.m. on Fox. 'Sister Wives' Kody Brown Breaks Instagram Silence With 'Special Forces' News: Fans Outraged first appeared on Parade on Aug 7, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 7, 2025, where it first appeared. Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mail
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Sister Wives star Janelle Brown clears the air about her sexuality and reveals what she's looking for in a man
TLC's Sister Wives brought their 19th season to a close on Sunday with the fourth and final installment of their One-on-One special, where Janelle Brown opened up about her sexuality. Janelle, 56, was the the second to marry Kody Brown in 1993, following Meri tying the knot in 1990, and she was also the second to leave him in 2023, after Christine left in 2021. While only one of the Sister Wives remain we d to Kody - Robyn, who tied the knot in 2010 - they are all still a part of the show, though this year's "reunion" was instead a series of one-on-one interviews with Sukanya Krishnan. Janelle used part of her time to clear up speculation that she is 'asexual,' which she assured viewers is not the case. 'I promise you, I'm not asexual. Everybody has this idea just because I didn't want to have assembly line kisses with Kody or whatever, that I was asexual,' Janelle said. 'And the hormones are hell when you're single. But, you know, it's like, you just deal with it or whatever,' she added. 'I suspect that someday down the road, if there's somebody else, then that will be part of it,' she added. She added of the rumors, 'It's so wild to me that everybody has assumed. So, just trust that I am not. I am very... I'm a very sexual being. I'm a very Earth mama.' When asked if she would be part of a polygamous relationship again, Janelle added, 'I'm not gonna say no, but I just don't foresee that I'm gonna meet very many people who live plural marriage these days.' When asked if she would be open to a monogamous relationship, she said, 'Maybe, but I'm definitely not gonna be dating on those weird apps.' Host Sukanya Krishnan asked Janelle to describe the kind of man she is looking for, as she responded, 'Someone who's very solid, who knows who they are.' She added that she doesn't want someone who is, 'super flashy,' adding, 'I'm kind of done with flashy.' Janelle welcomed six children with Kody - Hunter, Madison, Logan, Gabriel, Savanah and the late Garrison, adding she has had an interesting experience watching her daughters with their husbands. 'You know, it's interesting. I watch my children, our children with their husbands, and I'm like, "Wow, that's a really different experience,"' she said. 'I suspect that someday down the road, if there's somebody else, then that will be part of it,' she added. 'They're very engaged with each other and so, I don't know, I guess I'm just like, "Huh, maybe I want something a little bit more like that,' she admitted. Krishnan said near the end of the special that it was her hope that they could get everybody on a couch together at some point. 'Yeah, maybe. I'd really like that. I actually... that could happen. That'd be very interesting,' she said.
