Jussie Smollett is making his grand return to Fox as a recruit on the upcoming fourth season of the reality competition series โSpecial Forces: Worldโs Toughest Test.โ
On Aug. 6, Fox announced the 18 celebrity recruits, including Smollett, who will compete to prove they can survive intense training exercises led by strict and ruthless ex-Special Forces operatives.
Among the cast are โThe Real Housewives of New Jerseyโ star Teresa Giudice and her daughter Gia Giudice, who has appeared on the Bravo series for years and has more recently made a name for herself on the reality show โNext Gen NYC.โ There are also two couples โ Eric Decker and Jessie James Decker and Shawn Johnson East and Andrew East โ as well as multiple retired professional football, basketball and soccer players.
Smollett being a contestant on the series means this will be the actorโs first time appearing on Fox since his show โEmpireโ ended in 2020 and he was convicted of staging a hate crime two years later. In November 2024, NBC News reported that the conviction was overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court due to prosecutorial issues.
Fox revealed in a press release that Season 4 of โSpecial Forcesโ will introduce โsome of the harshest, most grueling challenges from the playbook of the actual Special Forces selection process.โ
To complete the tasks, the recruits trained in Morocco and had to withstand โextreme circumstances of urban warfare.โ The network clarified that although the group of recruits features spouses and relatives, all the contestants will compete as individuals.
โIn this experiment, there are no votes and no eliminations โ just survival. These celebrities, who are so used to being in the spotlight, will quickly learn the meaning of โno guts, no gloryโ โ and no glam,โ the press release reads.
The season premieres Thursday, Sept. 25 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
So, who signed up for a competition show that tests physical, mental and emotional resilience? Get to know the cast of โSpecial Forcesโ Season 4 and find out how they became household names, below.
Meet the Cast of โSpecial Forces: World’s Toughest Testโ Season 4
Kody Brown
What heโs known for: โSister Wivesโ
Brittany Cartwright
What sheโs known for: โVanderpump Rulesโ and โThe Valleyโ
Randall Cobb
What heโs known for: Retired NFL player
Eric Decker
What heโs known for: Retired NFL player
Jessie James Decker
What sheโs known for: Country music singer
Andrew East
What heโs known for: Retired NFL player
Shawn Johnson East
What sheโs known for: Gymnastics Olympic gold medalist
Mark Estes
What heโs known for: Social media personality
Gia Giudice
What sheโs known for: โNext Gen NYCโ and “Real Housewives of New Jersey”
Teresa Giudice
What sheโs known for: โReal Housewives of New Jersey”
Chanel Iman
What sheโs known for: Supermodel
Brianna LaPaglia
What sheโs known for: Social media influencer and podaster
Johnny Manziel
What heโs known for: Retired NFL player and Heisman Trophy winner
Eva Marcille
What sheโs known for: Model, actor and โThe Real Housewives of Atlantaโ star
Ravi V. Patel
What heโs known for: Actor
Christie Pearce Rampone
What sheโs known for: Retired soccer player, World Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist
Jussie Smollett
What heโs known for: Actor
Nick Young
What heโs known for: Retired NBA player
