For former politician George Santos, the Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test course was an even bigger challenge than going to prison.
“You know, prison was hard. This was harder,” Santos, 38, exclusively told Us ahead of the Special Forces season 5 premiere. “This challenges you. I mean, prison tortures you … [but] this really demands you to actually show up all the time, whereas in our broken incarceratory system in this country, you’re just meat.”
According to Santos, his past prison experience gave him “awareness and wherewithal to be self-aware” of his surroundings and an idea about living in barracks with his fellow recruits.
“I remember going in, because the setup was so similar, I’m like, ‘No, not this again,’” he quipped. “I think Hannah Stocking was sleeping next to me. I think I made a comment like, ‘Oh no, not this setup again.’ And they were like, ‘What do you mean?’ I’m like, ‘I was in prison, this is how we slept.’”
The former New York congressman was convicted of fraud and identity theft in April 2025, where he was sentenced to seven years behind bars. After Santos served 84 days in jail, President Donald Trump signed a commutation that facilitated his immediate release.
Nearly one year later, Santos underwent Special Forces selection, a military-style training course led by retired army veterans.
“I walked in knowing it was going to be an uphill battle for me because these are celebrities, people with very public lives, and they’re trying to do the job, get the next job, and brand safety is a big thing,” he told Us. “I’m like a nuclear football, so I figured nobody’s gonna want to talk to me. There were some cold initial introductions that evolved later on into the show, and I was humbled by that.”
In addition to Stocking, 34, Santos appeared on Special Forces alongside Candace Cameron Bure, Oliver Hudson, Ruby Rose, Collin Gosselin and father-daughter duo Mauricio and Alexia Umansky.
“The conversations post-show were very positive. My fellow cast members have been amazing and phenomenal to interact with and build relationships with,” Santos said. “But my favorite person in the cast — I know we shouldn’t do these things, but I’ll just say it, I don’t care — it was Candace. She’s such an awesome person, I genuinely love her. I mean, DJ Tanner [from Full House], how could you not?”
Former politician George Santos has defended his participation on the upcoming season of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test. “To all the haters talking about me being fat or @BrandiGlanville’s skin and wishing ill on @candacecbure amongst the other mean horrible things in the comment section, you could not walk a day in any of our shoes,” […]
He continued, “I am so glad I went through this experience with the group of people I went through it with.”
Santos further noted that he went on the show to prove “who I am.”
“This was a ‘please look past the headlines and tabloids’ kind of thing. That’s all it really came down to,” he stated. “I feel like I gave everything I could have given. … And, I would do this all over again, because now I’d know to prepare — physically prepare, literally get into better shape.”
Not only would Santos voluntarily take on selection again, but he wants one of his former congressional colleagues to join him.
“I keep saying this and I’m not gonna stop: Marjorie Taylor Greene. I think she’d be an insane casting for you guys,” he added of Greene, 52, who resigned her seat in January. “I think she’d be enormously lucrative for the environment of the show because, same thing, she’s gonna come in with a lot of the ick for people, but she’s built for this kind of stuff. She’s into the whole CrossFit thing, like, she could handle it.”
Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test season 5 premieres on Fox Thursday, September 24, at 9 p.m. ET.
