Jordyn Wieber. Pete Dadds / FOX
Jordyn Wieber’s decision to walk away from Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test may have appeared quick on TV — but there was actually a lot of thought that went into her choice to leave.
“It was so tough. It was such a hard decision,” Wieber, 29, exclusively told Us Weekly. “Standing there watching everybody do the challenge, I probably went back and forth like 50 times. Like, ‘OK, I’m going to do it. OK, I’m not going to do it. OK, I’m going to do it. OK, I’m not going to do it.’”
Wieber decided to voluntarily withdraw from the competition during the Wednesday, January 15, episode of Special Forces before attempting the submarine submersion task. Wieber explained to Us that she had a negative experience with the beehive task in the first episode, which led her to tread carefully with water moving forward.
“The water just really started freaking me out and I just felt like I was going to panic if I went back in the water,” she said. “Not to mention in a boat where you’re in a cage and all the other elements.”
The Olympian added that she “wanted to say longer,” explaining: “I knew that there were many other challenges that I could have handled and could have crushed it at and been tough enough to do, but the water just was really freaking me out. I was sad to leave, but I felt like it was just a little bit beyond my limit at that time.”
Before her experience on Special Forces, Wieber clarified that she did not have a negative experience with water.
“But at the same time, I’ve never had to do anything in the water beyond swimming with friends in a pool,” she noted. “I really haven’t had any experience in the water. I can swim and kind of do the basic things, but I’ve never been challenged to do that.”
Despite her hesitation about exiting, Wieber can ultimately look back and be confident in her decision.
One lesson the stars of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test have learned is that rough living conditions can be just as tough to handle as the challenges. Celebrities are pushed to their physical and mental limits by undergoing military training on the Fox competition series. The show’s first two seasons placed its casts in two […]
“I think I made the right decision for me based on how much water was involved, but I really didn’t know what I was in for, nor could I have prepared for it,” she said. “We really didn’t know the challenges ahead of time.”
While Wieber may have had a short stint on the show, she made a lasting impact with her vulnerability. In the second episode, Wieber opened up to the ex-special forces operatives Directing Staff (DS) agents about being a victim of sexual abuse. (Wieber was one of the gymnasts who testified at Larry Nassar’s trial in 2018. Nassar was later convicted and sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison.)
For Wieber, who considers herself to be “a little bit more stoic and together emotionally,” did not anticipate the emotional component of Special Forces.
“I think the way that it breaks you down physically and mentally, you can’t help it. You just become more vulnerable emotionally, and so when you go into that interrogation room and they’re asking you about sensitive things, it makes sense,” she said, adding that it was “tough” to watch back. “You go into something like that, you think you’re going to be in control the whole time, but when you get that tired and that exhausted, you really can’t control the emotions that are coming out of you.”
With reporting by Sarah Hearon
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