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Gus Kenworthy’s journey on Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test came sooner than anyone ever expected. While completing an assignment in the February 15 episode, he began to cough over and over again after getting a “horrible feeling” in his chest. The cough didn’t let up, and it was quickly determined that the Olympic skier was having an anaphylactic reaction. He was treated but had to be pulled from the show because of his medical situation. HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Gus about his health scare and his time on the show.
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Gus Kenworthy in the February 15 episode. (FOX)
“I wanted to go back,” Gus said. “A couple of minutes after they had administered the epinephrine, I was completely fine and felt normal, stone-cold sober, breathing fine. I was like, ‘Oh, I want to go back in.’ They were like, ‘You can’t go back in. There’s a risk of repeat anaphylaxis and we can’t do it.’”
Gus admitted that the whole situation was very brief. He was given epinephrine within 10 minutes of his reaction. He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital and to spend 24 hours under observation.
“I was feeling fine. I was fine even before I got in the ambulance,” he told HollywoodLife. “The epinephrine did the trick, but there was just the repeat of anaphylaxis. They couldn’t let me back in. I asked and kind of pleaded for it, but they said there was just no way.”
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To this day, the 31-year-old still doesn’t know what exactly he was allergic to. “But I think and feel very certain of it in my mind that it was something in the water,” he revealed. “The water itself had been sitting there since before Day 1. We all had to crawl through this gross mud and get in the water and get in the sand and get back in the water. It was like 120 degrees outside. That water was just sitting and growing bacteria. I feel like there was something in the water, like a mold or some kind of bacteria that had grown. When I jumped in one time, I ingested some of it unknowingly and my body went into anaphylaxis.”
If he had the chance to experience Special Forces again, the Olympian admitted that he would likely take the opportunity. “It wasn’t a fun experience, but going back into it I think I could better prepare obviously knowing what was in store,” he told HollywoodLife. “I think that the whole show, the whole experience was made to push each person to their limits. Even if I went into it, I think I would end up getting pushed by the DS in a different way than I had the previous time, and I would end up learning something new about myself. I think I probably would do it. It sucked to do it. Each day was brutal, but at the end of the experience, I felt better for having done it.”
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Gus Kenworthy during the tear gas task. (FOX)
The celebrity recruits underwent a number of brutal tasks during their time on the show. Gus noted that the tear gas task was “the worst one” he had to go through. “But I think that the toughest one for me was the pushing of the Jeep,” he added. “I think on TV it didn’t really translate, but it wasn’t like pushing a car that was in neutral and you’re pushing it. It was not moving. The tires were low on air. There was so much sand. With every step, your feet were sinking into the sand. The Jeep was just barely moving. I thought I gave all my energy, but you’d moved the car 10 feet.” Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test airs Wednesdays on FOX.
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