At this point, should Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test be known as the redemption show for celebrities wanting a fresh start? Well, it appears to be that way for Jussie Smollett. The former actor is ready for viewers to see a different side of him six years after that awful alleged hate crime hoax that derailed his career.
He’s not the only celebrity to come on the show with a chip on his shoulder. Tom Sandoval appeared in Season 2 trying to reframe his public image and make up for Scandoval. While it didn’t redeem him, people also didn’t mind seeing him go through the paces.
Jussie Smollett wanted to teach “young people” to “get back up”
In Jussie’s case, on the other hand, he’s not in it for the punishment, so to speak. His participation is more for showing others that when life knocks you down, you just have to roll with the punches and get back up. Could that also be why Sister Wives’ controversial patriarch, Kody Brown, is on the show?
The Empire alum spoke with PEOPLE on the red carpet with castmate Eva Marcille. He said that the reality competition show allowed him to talk to the public again in new ways. And that was really why he decided to join.
“It was really about my nieces and my nephew and all the young people out there,” Jussie shared. “Showing them that you can get knocked down, you get back up, you get knocked down, you get back up.”
Jussie is also releasing a new album on Sept 30 called Breakout. He admitted his time on Special Forces was very sobering. It wasn’t easy being vulnerable and physically putting himself out there. But it was really the mental toll that was the hardest part for him.
“So I hope that it’s the great equalizer and it’s also the great kind of reset of this is who I am and it’s all love,” he concluded.
His co-star, Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Eva, who got to bond with fellow contestant Teresa Giudice on Special Forces, shared that people will see a stripped-down Jussie on the show. She thinks viewers will learn who he really is, and she hopes they give him a chance.
“You have to get through it, and you can tell who a man is by the way he chooses to go through tough times,” Eva shared. “That’s what I learned and that’s what I think the world’s going to see.”
Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test premieres on Fox on Thursday, September 25 at 9/8c.
TELL US – WHAT DO YOU THINK OF JUSSIE’S REASONING? ARE YOU WILLING TO GIVE HIM A CHANCE ON THE SHOW?
