Nothing could truly prepare Brianna “Chickenfry” Lapaglia for everything she experienced on Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.
Although pushing through a public breakup from Zach Bryan had its challenges, competing on the Fox reality show was a whole other experience.
“It’s just two completely different things,” Lapaglia, 26, exclusively shared with Us Weekly on Tuesday, September 9. “I think going through what I went through last year gave me the adversity and the mental strength to probably do anything. Without that, I don’t think I could have gotten through Special Forces. I don’t think I would have been mentally strong enough. If anything, like, silver lining, it prepared me to get through this course.”
The social media star and Bryan, 29, dated for a little over a year before he announced in October 2024 that they had split.
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While it’s unclear if the breakup is brought up in the new season of Special Forces, Lapaglia admitted she got very emotional when she faced the interrogation room.
“You’re so emotional, whether it’s in a positive way or a negative way,” she said. “Everything just feels 10 times more emotional than it is. So when I sat down, for some reason, I just couldn’t stop crying. I was, like, shaking. … It felt like therapy in a way though, just brutal therapy with physical aspects. But it was therapeutic in a way.
Special Forces pits contestants, dubbed “recruits,” against harsh environments in a shortened training course that is designed to replicate a number of elements of the actual United States Special Forces selection course.
Participants face difficult challenges and living conditions that ultimately test their mental and physical strength.
“I started my period the first day we got there,” Lapaglia shared. “It was awful. It was my birthday while I was there.”
As for how she celebrated, the podcast host joked, “I was getting waterboarded.”
And for those curious, anything water was not a gift for Lapaglia or her Special Forces costar Chanel Iman.
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“Water for me was something that I knew was going to be a challenge because I didn’t really know how to swim,” Iman, 34, shared with Us. “One of the Marines taught me how to swim, just to make sure that it’s safe out there, but I didn’t have all the confidence that I needed to pass each challenge.”
Lapaglia added, “I think a lot of everyone’s biggest fear is probably drowning. It would be weird if it wasn’t.”
Season 4 of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test premieres on Fox Thursday, September 25, at 9 p.m. ET.
