Entertainment NOW

2 • January 1 - 7, 2023 Entertainment Now By Sarah Passingham TV Media T he competitive worlds of Hollywood and profession- al sports create some pret- ty tough cookies, but the challenges of rising to the top of their industry aren't enough for a few famous faces who are about to take on the ultimate test of en- durance. "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test" premieres Wednesday, Jan. 4, on Fox, with 16 celebrities willing to face real special forces challenges and prove they can survive. As Directing Staff (DS) agents, former Marine Rudy Reyes, ex- SAS and bodyguard to the stars Mark "Billy" Billingham, former SAS and Special Boat Service veteran Jason "Foxy" Fox, and former Navy SEAL/"The Terminal List" actor Remi Adeleke oversee the new celebrity recruits, guiding them through 10 days of intense training exercises similar to those used to enlist special forces agents. No stranger to these ex- ercises themselves, the DS agents help the contestants prepare for simulated missions and pull them out if they don't make the cut. The VIPs pulling on their camo best are: Spice Girl and "America's Got Talent" judge Mel B; former NFL player Danny Amendola; "The Bachelorette" lead Hannah Brown; chef and host of "The Great Food Truck Race," Tyler Florence; Kate Gosselin of "Jon & Kate Plus 8"; NBA all-star Dwight Howard; "This Is How We Do It" singer Montell Jordan; British Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy; "7th Heaven" actress Beverley Mitchell; five-time Olympic med- alist Nastia Liukin; "Real House- wives of Atlanta" star Kenya Moore; two-time Olympic gold medalist and soccer player Carli Lloyd; former MLB player Mike Pi- azza; MTV's favorite "Teen Mom" moderator, Dr. Drew Pinsky; businessman and shortest-ever- serving White House Director of Communications Anthony Scar- amucci; and, finally, "Zoey 101" actress Jamie Lynn Spears. Surrounded by a desolate desert landscape, "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test" contes- tants face physically and mentally grueling challenges with only one objective: survive. Alliances won't do players any good in this game, as there will be no elimination votes cast: contestants can only exit the 10-day competition by failure, injury, quitting or being ejected by the DS. There is no grand prize at the end of the spe- cial forces journey, except for the satisfaction of having completed a uniquely punishing challenge. In an interview with Entertain- ment Tonight, Billingham broke down how exactly he and the other DS agents shatter contes- tants' barriers, saying, "We don't break people — we strip them back to their raw self." Billingham further explained: "that means getting right inside their head, their emotions, how they think and how they tick." While he may not "break" them, he does insist "we scream at them, we shout at them, this is raw." Billingham really doesn't sugarcoat how unfamiliar the conditions of "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test" are to the celebrity contestants. He says in the same interview, "There's no soap on a rope, there's no coffee lattes on de- mand, there's no using your cell- phone. Everything is controlled by us." Just how controlling are Billingham and the rest of the DS agents running the training exercises? Billingham told En- tertainment Tonight, "We even take away their names and give them a number." Not only are contestants leaving creature comforts behind, they're being shut down on a personal level, the social isolation making the physical challenges that much more difficult. Cover Story Jason Fox, Remi Adeleke, Rudy Reyes and Mark Billingham from "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test" They've got grit: Celebs ditch the glam for 'Special Forces' competition Ready Rental 3 x 4 Hayley Siefert 3 x 2 Letters & Numbers Sudoku Fill in the grid so that every row,every column, and every 4x4 box contains the digits 1 through 9 AND the letters A-F. Solution on page 12. Advertise Your Business In Call Advertising at 217-477-5105

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