Former Bachelorette Ali Fedotowsky knew there was “speculation around [her] body transformation” before it was announced that she participated on Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test season 3.
“[It] was a little difficult for me because I wanted to share with people [who] would be like, ‘How did you do it?’” Fedotowsky, 40, exclusively told Us Weekly. “I lost 20 pounds training for the show. I was working out two to three times a day. My whole day. This was my job for two months. I put everything else to the side.”
According to Fedotowsky, her husband, Kevin Manno, “even took over” parenting children Molly, 8, and Riley, 6, so she could get in shape for Special Forces.
“I was training hardcore. And so, for me, I kept saying to people online, I’m like, ‘Oh, well, I work out two times a day,’” Fedotowsky said. “I know that’s not possible for most moms out there. Moms are busy or people have jobs. I couldn’t tell people this was my job for two months.”
Ali Fedotowsky Worked Out ‘All Day Every Day’ to Train for ‘Special Forces’
She added, “So, now I’m happy that I can finally tell people, ‘Look, my transformation is not normal. It was my job for two months. That’s why I was able to make this happen. Don’t compare yourself to me.’ That was difficult for me not to have that honest conversation.”
Fedotowsky wanted to get in better shape before she took on the Special Forces courses. In addition to focusing on fitness, the Bachelor Nation star also followed the advice she received from past recruits.
“I talked to Hannah Brown, Beverley Mitchell and Nick Viall, and Beverley told me, ‘Do breathing exercises, focus on the mental.’ That actually really helped me,” Fedotowsky told Us. “I looked into Wim Hof breathing exercises, I was doing meditation and I hired a breathing coach. I really went through it.”
Viall, 44, competed on season 2 of Special Forces with Mitchell, 43, and expressed to Fedotowsky that the show was “way harder than it looks.”
“He’s like, ‘You are going to be so upset when you watch the show and you see all the stuff they don’t show. It’s a TV show. They have to cut [it] down,’” Fedotowsky recalled. “He’s like, ’It’s going to eat you alive.’ But you’re like, ‘Oh, I didn’t see that we were going through that.’ Or when you saw Tyler Cameron puke last season, you’re like, ‘Why do you puke? Didn’t look that hard.’ It’s, like, ‘Well, it must’ve been that hard vomiting.’ And so there was that. I think the overall sense I got from the past cast members is they were just so grateful to be a part of it. They’re like, ‘This is going to change your life.’”
How Bachelor Nation Has Performed on ‘Special Forces’
Special Forces changed Fedotowsky’s life too.
“I wanted to prove I was a badass. I’m like, ‘I want to prove myself physically. I want to train as hard as I can, make it to the end. There was no quitting in my mind,’” she told Us. “My girlfriend made me a ring and the inside said, ‘Keep beeping going,’ and she’s like, ‘No matter what.’ I couldn’t wear the ring on the show ’cause you can’t wear jewelry, but I kept thinking about it. ‘Keep going, keep going. Just keep beeping going.’”
Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test premieres on Fox Wednesday, January 8, at 8 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Mariel Turner
