Hannah Brown adds another reality title to her resume
She was a ‘The Bachelorette’ and ‘DWTS’ winner, something she has never done before.
In the past, we’ve seen Hannah Brown All dressed up and ready for her TV appearances The Bachelorette And Dancing with the Stars, But for her return to reality TV After a three-year absence, she rediscovered her elegance and got down to business. Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.
It paid off. Hannah, former professional soccer player Carli Lloyd The winners of the competition walked away victorious. Special Forces: The World’s Most Toughest Test The 14 other celebs competing, including some very macho guys, beat them all!
“I have let fear win in the past but I’m so much more confident,” Hannah said at the conclusion of the finale. “I’m just really proud to be stAnding here making it to the end, but I can not wait to have a real shower and wash my hair.”
The FOX reality series puts 16 celebrities to the test—Danny Amendola, Mel B, Hannah Brown, Tyler Florence, Kate Gosselin, Dwight Howard, Montell Jordan, Gus Kenworthy, Nastia Liukin, Carli Lloyd, Beverley Mitchell, Kenya Moore, Mike Piazza, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Anthony Scaramucci and Jamie Lynn Spears—through some of the most grueling challenges from the playbook of the actual Special Forces selection process to see if they can measure up to the mental and physical challenges.
“I haven’t been on television in a while, so anything that I was going to do moving forward, I wanted it to be something that really makes sense of where I am in my life right now,” Hannah told Parade In this exclusive interview. “I have taken the time to work on myself and give myself time to really discover who I am now, how I want to become better. Special Forces It was a great fit for me, and I was thrilled about it. But also, of course, terrified because I didn’t know if I was really going to be cut out for it—and I really didn’t feel like I was cut out for it once I got there.”
Hannah spoke out about how she managed to stay positive and able to face all of the challenges. She also talked about what she most missed from home. Special Forces You could be a motivational speaker and start a new career.
What made you want to be a member? Special Forces?
It was both exciting and nerve-wracking to be there. Special Forces. One thing that helped me want to do it, is it’s the first season, so I didn’t really know what to expect other than they really decided the show was about the recruits, anybody participating, to come out, learn more about themselves, and ultimately, become a better person after. That intrigued me.
Did you play a lot when you were younger? Do you consider yourself athletic other than dancing, which is a more graceful kind of athleticism, that doesn’t have the macho element that goes into Special Forces
Although I danced only when I was younger I am sure I was always an athlete. I think I would have enjoyed being in sports when I was younger, but I think when you’re younger it’s just what works with your parents’ schedule, what they also probably enjoy. I enjoyed dance to an extent, but I think I would have really thrived in sports but didn’t really pursue that ever.
I don’t want to say [I was a] Tomboy. I secretly loved being a surprise to people through my athleticism. But still, I didn’t think I would be able to hang with professional athletes. But yeah, as a young girl, I think I always was interested in doing sports and more athletic things but really just didn’t other than working out for aesthetic reasons and loving the way that I felt after a hard workout. This was the only experience I had of getting physically fit.
It’s pretty obvious because I’m smiling through the whole thing. I don’t think I even know sometimes how to channel aggression. You never wanted to be aggressive in anything you did. You wanted to appear normal and dance normally. You wanted to appear graceful. So, I think I definitely struggle with how to take that energy and put it into something that takes so much aggression and grit, but I guess I figured it out because I’m hanging in there.
Looking at the list of everybody that went home, there are several of the woman, but you’ve outlasted several of the men.
There were injuries too. I’m surprised that wasn’t what took me out because I’m the most accident-prone person there ever was.
Perhaps knowing this about yourself made you more cautious. But what was harder, the physical endurance or getting the mindset for, “I can tackle these things”?
Mental games are the best way to get to the top. Of course, the challenges are physically draining, we’re exhausted every day. I think it’s very evident by the look on all our faces every scene. We’re completely drained but I think, “It’s, OK, you’ve done something really hard,” and then it’s over.
Then you have to mentally get yourself ready for, “OK I’m not getting to go home and take a hot shower and rest and recuperate.” No, it’s just as hard once we got back to our barracks, just trying to deal with life in the barracks. That was what I found so difficult. Living conditions were the most difficult part for me.
Normally, when you do one hard thing it’s like, “OK, when I get home, I’m going to get a really good meal and sit down and chill out.” But that was just not the case. It was hard at times, but I knew it was over soon.
Related: Dancing with the Stars’ Hannah Brown Reveals She Eats Too Much Candy and She Can’t Feel Her Feet!
What were you most missing? What did you feel most deprived of?
It was hard to feel clean. Honestly. I’ll go a few days without washing my hair, but this was a little bit to an extreme. My hair was covered in sand and I could see the globs of it. We didn’t have anything to shave our legs. At that time, I felt like I was growing hairy boots. There was just a bar of soap, some toothpaste, and some deodorant. This was really hard.
Dry feet was something that I also regretted. My feet were always damp. You think you’re in a dry space but we’re always jumping in some type of water, doing something really physical, and so my feet were just completely destroyed by the end of it. The most important thing I had missed was feeling clean.
Did the thought ever cross your mind, “I can’t do this anymore,” or were you always able to mentally tough it out and say, “It’s going to be over soon.”
I had one moment that I was just like, “Wow, I don’t know how I’m going to continue to do this.” I had never been to the Jordanian desert before and done physically draining military-style workouts. This was my first time in such heat and it was making me sweat heavily, my hands, and my feet.
As I mentioned, my feet were ruined by the end. My socks were wet and my hands, I couldn’t grip on things because my hands were sweating. I was like, “What is going on?” And I was like, “I don’t know if I can go through this competition.”
Anytime we had, I wouldn’t call it a break, but when we weren’t doing a physical activity and we’re back in our little cots, I would just lay out like a starfish and just try to get some air and dry out. This was what made me want quit.
But everything to the point where we are in the season, I just told myself, even when I was like, “Ugh, I do not want to do this,” or “This is actually awful,” just to try to make it through it. I was just trying to get the best out of the experience. I found the whole process of quitting by myself to be very difficult. Nastia Luukin told me that her dad told her, which I loved, was “Never quit on a bad day.” And I was like, “OK, this might be a really bad day, but who knows what’s coming?” That’s what I’ve learned for myself.
After doing Special Forces You might make a great motivational speaker if you have all the right ingredients.
It would be a dream come true to do that. I think I’ve had a lot of life experiences in a very small time frame that have really taught me who I am, both good and bad, and made me take account of what I really want in life, my purpose and mission. We all have to go through some things. I think I’m a person that has to learn the hard way, but I have gained a lot of wisdom in my short 28 years of life. I would love to inspire others, especially high school and college students.
Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test FOX will air Wednesday evenings at 9 PM ET/PT
Next, Survivor Season 44: Everything we Know So Far (Including the Cast, and When it Premieres).