Special Forces: World's Toughest Test star Kate Gosselin opened up about being "so angry" about her early exit from the reality competition show due to a neck injury sustained during one of the challenges. The reality star hurt her neck when she and her fellow contestants were challenged to fall backward of out a helicopter into water. Kate, who is afraid of both heights and water, was terrified to complete the task. When she did, she did not land in the water head first but instead on her neck because of her panic. The medic suspected that her neck might be broken, and Kate was forced to go to the hospital, ending her time on Special Forces on day one. Thankfully, her neck was not broken, but the injury was still severe.
In an interview with People, Kate revealed, "I'm still so pissed. I'm so angry. I was out and it was done before it even started." She said, "It took me so long to get over that. I still don't think I am. Because I really wanted to challenge myself." Kate explained that although "water and heights are two of my absolute fears," at some point when she was in the helicopter, she remembered thinking, "I'm sorry, you don't have a choice here. I know you're scared to death, you're doing it. Do it and get it over with." Immediately after making the jump on the FOX series, Kate knew something was wrong. She said, "I landed right on my neck and I screamed when I landed because it was absolute ridiculous pain." She added that she then started to feel nauseous and began dry heaving into the water.
Kate Gosselin Wanted To Hide Her Special Forces Injury At First
Kate confessed that, although her Special Forces co-stars encouraged her to say something about her injury, she did not want to. She explained, "I knew if I said something, I was going to...well, I didn't know I was going to be out. So I braved through it, and it just kept getting worse." Kate, who is a nurse, knew that she had to get checked out by the medic to "make sure there was no lifelong injury there." She confessed, "My neck still bothers me sometimes. It is muscle. I do tend to carry stress in my neck and shoulders. So I do think that that probably was a factor in it, then hitting it smack dab on the water."
Kate was not the only celebrity to leave Special Forces in the first episode. Dr. Drew Pinsky suffered severe dehydration, while Montell Jordan injured his thumb in an intense fighting challenge. Both were forced to medically withdraw. Tyler Florence voluntarily withdrew when the recruits were asked to cross a 300-foot-wide canyon on a tight rope 200 feet off the ground. He said that it was his wife's birthday, and he promised her that he would not injure himself during the Special Forces competition. Although Tyler left the competition voluntarily, the others were devastated by their early exits.
Kate began her Special Forces journey wanting to prove herself. However, she unfortunately had to leave the competition very early due to her neck injury. It is always difficult to watch reality show contestants withdraw before they are ready. Losing three contestants to injuries and illness in the first episode was especially shocking. Hopefully, Montell, Dr. Drew, and Kate will make full recoveries. If Special Forces season 2 is renewed, perhaps they can return for a second chance.
Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST on FOX.