The Bachelorette alum Hannah Brown, 28, returns to reality television on January 4 in the FOX series Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, where 16 celebrities will endure grueling challenges inspired by the actual Special Forces selection process. Hannah spoke to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY at the Dec. 13 red carpet premiere and explained how fans will see a whole new side to all the celebrity recruits, including Kenya Moore, Jamie Lynn Spears, and Kate Gosselin.
“It was such a transformative show, every person that was apart of it learned something about themselves in these extreme moments that you can’t really experience in any other way,” Hannah told us. “That was what was so different about this show and something I think people are really going to love to watch.”
“[You see] completely stripped down versions of all these people that you’ve seen on TV or looked up to, stripped [of their] ego,” the Dancing with the Stars winner added. “We see everyone just as themselves and not this character that they’ve played or just your favorite athlete. That’s when you really find out who you truly are.”
Hannah explained that while she’s always been her authentic self on past TV shows, like Peter Weber‘s season of The Bachelor, this rigorous new series shows the Alabama native in a “different light” than before.
“This really shows me for who I am, [because] when all the comforts of life are gone, you see who you really are,” she said. “I was interested to see who that was, because I don’t think you know that unless you are given the opportunity to take the [tough] route. You have to just do it the hard way, do it the best way, do it the way that’s going to make you better.”
Hannah’s obviously not a professional athlete like her fellow Special Forces recruits Mike Piazza, Nastia Liukin, and Carli Lloyd, but she still learned so much from doing something way out of her comfort zone. “It is really about facing your biggest fears and really getting vulnerable about what makes you take a step back and not fully go into everything that you’re meant to be,” she told HL.
“I think we all have insecurities that make us step back and think, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I can do this.’ None of us thought we could do any of these tasks, but doing it anyway, that was really appealing for me to really push myself in a way that would on the other end,” Hannah explained. “And make me realize I’m so much stronger than I give myself credit for, in all ways. I think that’s what we all learned.”
Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test premieres Jan. 4 at 8pm ET on Fox.