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T10 WHATS UP! January 1 - 7, 2023 sist "we scream at them, we shout at them, this is raw." Billingham really doesn't su- garcoat how unfamiliar the conditions of "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test" are to the celebrity contestants. He says in the same interview, "There's no soap on a rope, there's no coffee lattes on de- mand, there's no using your cellphone. Everything is con- trolled by us." Just how con- trolling are Billingham and the rest of the DS agents running the training exercises? Billing- ham told Entertainment To- night, "We even take away their names and give them a number." Not only are contes- tants leaving creature com- forts behind, they're being shut down on a personal level, the social isolation making the physical challenges that much more difficult. The official trailer for the series opens with Spears dra- matically falling headfirst from a helicopter into a body of water, while a voice dramat- ically narrates, "If you should die, that is nature's way of say- ing you failed." Teased in the trailer are some of the special forces challenges, including a high-wire walk, a submerged vehicle escape, hand-to-hand combat and maneuvering through a simulated war zone. Contestants visibly struggle while suspending their packs above their heads, running through dusty terrain and crawling through claustropho- bic tunnels. Dropping celebrities into environments that are unfa- miliar to them is an undeni- ably winning TV format, with hits from the early days of re- ality TV such as "The Surreal Life" and "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here" across the pond leading the way. The genre is still a proven hit with recent shows such as "Beyond the Edge" and "Celebrity Big Brother." It's even birthed fun takes on the celebrity reality mix, such as "Claim to Fame," a "Big Brother"-esque series that put relatives of celebrities in a house and left them to form alliances and battle it out for a $100,000 grand prize. As for these special forces hopefuls, they have obviously considered what physical challenges "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test" has in store for them, but what they may have left out of the equa- tion are the psychological struggles they may face over the short yet brutal 10-day ex- cursion. Contestants come up against their own fears of heights or drowning, of course, but the training pro- gram expects an immense amount of obedience and ad- herence to its hierarchy. Not the easiest feat for people who are presumably at the top of their own food chain day-to- day. Tidy your barracks and re- port for duty when "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test" premieres Wednesday, Jan. 4, on Fox. continued from page T2 They've got grit: Celebs ditch the glam for 'Special Forces' competition TV FEATURE 5 x 5 Jason Fox, Remi Adeleke, Rudy Reyes and Mark Billingham from "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test"