Christie Pearce got brutally honest on Special Forces about staying in her “toxic” marriage for too long.
During the Thursday, October 30, episode of the Fox series, Christie, 50, opened up her fellow recruits about her divorce from Chris Rampone. ” I stayed a little bit longer than I should have trying to heal it,” she said. “But it wasn’t going to get healed.”
Christie was later asked to sit down with the Directing Staff, during which she admitted that that joining the show was “outside” her comfort zone.
“I’m scared of everything on this course. It’s way harder than what I’ve ever experienced in my 19 years of playing soccer,” she explained. “I came alive on the soccer field. I grew up on the road because I basically had both kids while I was playing.”
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The DS asked whether Rampone supported her in raising daughters Rylie, 21, and Reece, 16.
“I was back on the field three months after pregnancy. I wanted to be a mom and have a career so the girls always just came with me,” she shared. “[My husband] was home. I was the breadwinner on the road every day doing everything and exhausted.”
Christie continued: “Then I was coming home and fighting. You’re in a marriage that you’re not together so I think you lose your feelings. The hardest thing is admitting that you’re in a toxic marriage.”
It was “the toughest thing” Christie experienced.
“I’m embarrassed of trying to make it seem like I have this happy marriage. I was captain of the national team for eight years and I was a strong woman that led this team. But yet I couldn’t leave my marriage,” she admitted. “Then I retired and I knew it wasn’t going to work. The divorce has been extremely ugly. You can’t move on and be happy.”
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For Christie, joining Special Forces was about gaining “confidence” to “keep moving forward.” She was previously married to Rampone, 48, from 2001 to 2017 before finding love with former head coach Christy Holly.
Special Forces, which premiered in 2023, puts contestants through harsh, military-style training based on actual Special Forces selection processes. They face intense physical and mental challenges designed to push their limits.
Christie is one of many reality TV stars making up the season 4 cast of Special Forces. The competition also features Kody Brown, Brianna LaPaglia, Andrew East, Shawn Johnson East, Randall Cobb and Gia Giudice.
Before the season premiered, Christie spoke exclusively with Us Weekly about the first thing she did when she got home, saying, “Having a nice cup of coffee was nice when I got home.”
Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test airs on Fox Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.
