Jamie Lynn Spears & Beverley Mitchell: There Was ‘No Real Way’ To Prepare For Tough ‘Special Forces’ Series (Exclusive)

‘Special Forces’ pushed a team of celebrities to their limit. Learn about the show in our EXCLUSIVE interview here.

Celebrities might be known for living pampered lives, but 16 stars just took on the challenge of a lifetime for the show Special Forces: The World’s Toughest Test, out Jan. 4, 2023 on Fox. The show sent a team of actors, athletes, and entertainers overseas to experience the grueling tests used to weed out elite soldiers for the military’s elite Special Forces squad.

Over two weeks, competitors braved the harsh desert elements while being pushed them to their physical and mental limits. The stars came from an array of worlds, all with different skills. Among them, were NFL alum Danny Amendola, former Spice Girl Mel B, Bachelor Nation’s Hannah Brown, Food Network’s Tyler Florence, reality mom Kate Gosselin, basketball star Dwight Howard, singer/producer Montell Jordan, Olympians Gus Kenworthy and Nastia Liukin, soccer star Carli Lloyd, 7th Heaven star Beverley Mitchell, Bravo Housewife Kenya Moore, baseball great Mike Piazza, Dr. Drew Pinsky, former Trump acolyte Anthony Scaramucci, and actress Jamie Lynn Spears.

On the show, they were tasked to “survive demanding training exercises” led by Directing Staff (DS) agents Rudy Reyes, Mark “Billy” Billingham, Jason “Foxy” Fox, and Remi Adeleke, all ex-special forces operatives. Among the challenges? Diving directly off of a speeding boat, free falling out of helicopters, and literally getting set on fire, just to start.

While none of the stars knew what they were in for, Jamie Lynn and Beverley especially felt like fish out of water, as they explained in an EXCLUSIVE interview with HollywoodLife.

While Jamie Lynn was prepped for some of the physical tasks, from her regular fitness training, she admitted there was no way to prepare “for something like this.” The Nickelodeon star said, “The mental side was the most unexpected. That was the biggest part for me, really mentally preparing yourself to just dive into this full force and not look back. I think that was something I wish I would have done a bit more because I was like “Oh my god, I feel so guilty about not being with my kids, but this is what I’m here to do.”

For Beverley, it was about getting back into action entirely. “So, I only had a week [to prepare,” the 90s star said. “I tried, but I hadn’t worked out in ten years. Like, I’ve got three kids! I think the most I do is walk around my kids’ soccer practice. Was I ready to run through a desert?”

“No one’s ready for that,” Jamie Lynn went on. “There’s no real way to train for this, unless maybe you’re an Olympic athlete,” to which Beverley chimed in saying, “I mean, some we’re not naming names.” Jamie Lynn was ready to remind us of her own special skills, telling everyone, “Hey, I have a Kids Choice award.”

Though the experience was grueling, both ladies were in awe of the connections they made. Beverley explained, “We were all in that same boat, there was no special treatment.”

Jamie Lynn revealed how everyone ended up relying on one another. She told HL, “We all bonded at one time or another, and it was because there was no time to think about it. You needed each other to get through, it was surviving and that bond drove everything.”

People can see how Jamie Lynn, Beverley and the others toughed it through their mission when Special Forces: The World’s Toughest Test premieres Jan. 4, 2023 at 8 pm on Fox.