The first episode of Fox's new reality series Special Forces: World's Toughest Test saw 16 celebrities show up to answer the call of duty. However, by the end of the episode, four of them were already gone.
The show, which premiered Wednesday night, follows the group of stars — known only as "recruits" and identified by an assigned number — as they compete in a series of bootcamp-style challenges based on actual military exercises.
The cast includes Danny Amendola (former NFL star), Melanie "Mel B" Brown (Spice Girls), Hannah Brown (The Bachelorette), Tyler Florence (celebrity chef), Kate Gosselin (Jon & Kate Plus 8), Dwight Howard (NBA star), Montell Jordan (R&B star), Gus Kenworthy (Olympic skier), Nastia Liukin (Olympic gymnast), Carli Lloyd (former soccer player), Beverley Mitchell (7th Heaven), Kenya Moore (Real Housewives of Atlanta), Mike Piazza (former MLB star), Dr. Drew Pinsky (Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew), Anthony Scaramucci (former Trump White House Communications Director) and Jamie Lynn Spears (Zoey 101).
Gosselin struggled with the experience from the beginning as the recruits had to run two miles through the 100-degree Wadi Rum desert in Jordan to reach their base camp.
"You should've turned up in your tracksuit, not your pajamas," one of the Directing Staff members said to Gosselin as he ran by her.
Day one of training brought the very first task for the recruits to complete: a backward dive out of a helicopter into the water below. Gosselin found herself in tears because she was afraid of both heights and water.
In order to pass the task, one of the DS agents explained the recruits must do "exactly as you're told," which meant entering the water head-first and keeping their entire body straight.
"I want to do it so bad," a choked-up Gosselin said.
Piazza, an MLB hall of famer and fellow recruit, was the first to take on the dive. In the wake of his retirement, the 53-year-old said an opportunity like this show "gets your juices flowing again," and he was able to complete the dive successfully.
Gosselin went next, and continued to cry in the helicopter out of anxiety and fear. Despite giving the dive her best attempt, Gosselin's panic got the best of her, and she fell to the water in a seated position rather than head-first.
"That hurts," she said after climbing out of the water and hurting her neck during the dive.
Both Mel B and chef Florence completed the dive after Gosselin, though Florence's celebratory fist-bump attempt with one of the DS agents earned him a bear crawl punishment.
"The recruits are not on our level, and we're definitely not here to be their friends," said Remi Adeleke, the DS agent.
Meanwhile, the medic who examined Gosselin's sore neck delivered yet another blow to the reality star: out of an abundance of caution, they had to take Gosselin to a hospital for x-rays.
"I don't wanna go home. Don't make me," Gosselin pleaded with the medic through tears.
"My main goal is to walk away proud of myself, because this is not for the faint of heart," Gosselin later said in a confessional, as video was shown of her being loaded into the ambulance in a neck brace and driven away before she could even complete the first day.
Following Gosselin's departure, Spears was the last recruit to take on the dive. The 31-year-old remained straight like the agents advised, but she ended up landing in the water face down, which was considered a "fail" on the task.
After climbing out of the water, Spears threw up liquid and said through tears that she "didn't know the experience would affect her like that."
The close proximity to water reminded Spears of the "worst experience" she'd lived through: the day she had to dive into a pond to save her 8-year-old daughter Maddie from drowning.
The DS agents met after the dive to discuss the recruits' performance, and they decided to call Spears in for "tactical questioning" after her post-dive "meltdown."
Spears said she "wants to be here," so that she can feel "like she's worth something" after having grown up in the shadow of famous older sister Britney.
"It just feels like every time I work really hard to get something on my own, it's like, it's not really worth it," she explained.
And while she "loves" and is "proud" of her sister, Spears still felt like she's "never been able to have anything for myself."
After 14 hours in the desert, Dr. Pinsky, 63, of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew went to the medic complaining of headache and nausea due to severe dehydration. Pinsky ultimately became the second recruit to leave, as he was "medically withdrawn" from the course.
The DS agents then pulled the remaining recruits for a "spot check" to see if they had all kept their canteens filled with water like they were instructed. Because not everybody had a full water bottle, the recruits were punished with a "bee sting" exercise — a challenge similar to a grueling obstacle course.
As Day 2 began, the DS agents instructed the recruits to line themselves up in order from strongest to weakest. NBA all-star Howard claimed the strongest spot and 7th Heaven actress Mitchell took the weakest.
The recruits were then taken into the desert for their second task to "learn to move like special operators." That task turned out to be crossing a 300-foot-wide canyon on a single wire, 200-feet off the ground, much like a tight-rope.
Howard, 36, went first but admitted he "can't do it" before even taking one step, and ultimately fell off the line before being caught by his harness and lowered to the ground.
Florence admitted to having "real reservations about doing this" when his turn was up, for it was his wife's birthday and he said he had promised her he wouldn't hurt himself. Just like that, he became the first recruit to voluntarily withdraw — and the third recruit to leave.
Olympic gymnast Liukin, 32, was the first recruit to successfully cross the canyon, followed only by former NFL player Amendola, 36, and olympic skier Kenworthy, 31.
Later, the agents called basketball star Howard in for questioning about his ego and attitude, as they felt he "had more to give."
"I'm all in. If I didn't take this serious[ly], I wouldn't be here," Howard said.
The subsequent third task for the recruits was also their first combat task: they had to fight one of the DS agents who donned a red, padded suit for the occasion.
Mel B, 47, went first and succeeded in the fight, knocking the DS agent to the ground. "It's an ongoing, healing road that I will always be on," she said of recovering from her abusive relationship and channeling her aggression.
Liukin, on the other hand, admitted she "didn't want to hit anyone" and proceeded to show zero aggression, barely grappling with her opponent, and thus failing the task.
R&B star Jordan was one of many recruits who were checked out by the medic after fighting, and he, too, was medically withdrawn from the training after suffering a suspected broken thumb.
As the episode ended, the DS agents called in Mitchell, 41, for questioning. "I don't want to try because I don't want to fail. I'm almost afraid to succeed," she said, noting that she's "never felt good enough" in her life.
At the end of Day 2, the recruits were asked again to line up again from strongest to weakest.
This time, however, Howard changed his position from first to third, behind Amendola and Kenworthy. Mitchell, who gained newfound confidence after her meeting with the agents, moved herself up from the weakest position past Mel B, Bachelorette star Hannah Brown and former White House Director Scaramucci, who was left in the bottom spot.
"Only the people that can bounce back will pass this course," DS agent Jason Fox said.
Special Forces: World's Toughest Test airs Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
