Teresa Giudice cleaning toilets on Special Forces was a tough watch — but she didn’t mind being put on poop duty.
“Everyone said to me, ‘You’re so lucky. That’s the best day to be on toilet duty on the first day.’ Because nobody goes to the bathroom,” Teresa, 53, noted during an exclusive interview with Us Weekly about her time on the Fox show. “The first day, you don’t go to the bathroom.”
Teresa didn’t have as much of a mess to deal with as expected.
“Maybe a few days later [would have been worse]. But the conditions were horrible. There were no toilets, and it was like it was made out of plywood,” she recalled. “You’re going to the bathroom in a bucket. So I felt good about that.”
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She continued: “To tell you the truth, I’m glad they gave it to me the first day. I didn’t go to the bathroom. The first day, I really didn’t go to the bathroom. I don’t think I did until I left. Because it was just not comfortable.”
Teresa was one of many reality TV stars making up the season 4 cast of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test. The show, 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.
While Teresa made it through multiple challenges — including going underwater for an extended amount of time — she self-eliminated so she wouldn’t have to watch daughter Gia Giudice fight someone in a boxing ring.
“There was a lot going through my mind at that moment. We spoke about a lot of things because we were there days before [filming started]. We spoke about a lot of things, and I’m always a mom first. So I was just thinking, ‘I would never want to see anybody hitting my child,’” Teresa shared. “I also wouldn’t want her to see me fighting anyone because that would be hard for her too. But if I saw her getting punched, I would have definitely jumped in.”
Teresa struggled with her decision because it meant leaving Gia, 24, on her own.
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“I cried that whole night. I cried going home at the airport, I cried when I got home and I cried until Gia came home. Even my husband [Luis Ruelas] was like, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ He’s like, ‘You think you’re so different,’” she recalled to Us. “I would tell him, ‘I won’t be good until Gia gets home.’ I was just so worried about her. But I knew that she was going to be fine. I know my child.”
Despite her confidence in Gia, Teresa’s exit left her eldest to be interrogated by the Directing Staff (DS). Viewers saw Gia get told that she was better off competing without her mother around — which Teresa didn’t agree with after watching the conversation.
“I was not holding her back, and she knows that. Listen, they don’t know us that well, and that’s what they thought,” Teresa said. “Was I worried about her? Was she worried about me? Of course. That’s my daughter and I’m her mom. But I was definitely not holding her back. She even said it. She’s like, ‘My mom was not holding me back.’”
She continued: “We both would be able to do it on our own. But it was nice to have her there. I was grateful to do that and to start with her. But we’re both capable of doing it on our own. But I enjoyed doing it with her, and her sisters were jealous that we did it together. They’re like, ‘I want to do something with you.’”
Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test airs on Fox Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.
