Kelly Rizzo shares how Bob Saget helped her get ‘to finish line’ for military show challenge
Kelly Rizzo bowed out of FOX's "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test" on Monday night, but credited her late husband with helping her get through one final challenge.
Kelly Rizzo wants fans to know that she tried her hardest on "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test" – and was able to finish one final challenge thanks to her late husband, Bob Saget.
During Monday night's episode of the FOX show, Rizzo was seen in tears as she fought through the pain before admitting she could no longer move forward. "My legs are numb," Rizzo said, before adding, "I am not OK … I need to VW (voluntarily withdraw)."
In an interview with Fox News Digital, the 44-year-old explained that it really started to hit her that morning. "I was in such incredible pain – my legs," Rizzo revealed. "See, one thing they don't show is that on the campus and on the base, you have to run everywhere. You're not allowed to walk anywhere. Even if you're just going to the bathroom, you have to run, and it's on gravel."
Rizzo said that her knees started to swell up, and she was "in so much pain" that she "could barely walk at all, let alone run."
"And my natural inclination was like, 'All right, this is uncomfortable. Let's get the hell out of here,'" she admitted. "But I told myself, I am not quitting unless I'm injured or my body just physically gives out. I will not just quit because I'm uncomfortable or because of fear or like something scary. But that last day I was really in pain, and I was starting to get worried. I was like, ‘Is this going to be a long-term injury?’"
Rizzo explained that she was given Advil, which helped with her pain management, and from there she decided to "push through." However, she did not realize that the next challenge was going to be "the most horrifically difficult, physically challenging evolution that we had to do the entire time."
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"It just really, really broke my body," Rizzo confessed. "It was to the point where I was already in pain and like my back and my knees, I was like I physically can't … I'm not the Olympic speed skater with thighs like tree trunks or [castmate] Tyler Cameron, who's like a beast of a human."
WATCH: Kelly Rizzo shares how Bob Saget helped her get ‘to finish line’ for military show challenge
"I'm in really good shape, but I'm still like 44. And, you know, my back was hurting and … I was so sleep-deprived and energy-depleted … I was sleeping 3 hours a night, if that. And it just like emotionally, the emotion and the emotional side and the physical side were just – it was like one big perfect storm of, 'Oh, my God, this is you just can't go on.'"
Rizzo noted that she "really tried" during the challenge, and she hopes that comes across.
On "Special Forces," celebrities compete – and try to survive – intense training exercises led by a team of ex-Special Forces operatives, or Directing Staff (DS) agents.
As for what her castmates, including the DS agents told her, Rizzo remembered them saying, "You should be so proud of yourself. You truly gave it your all."
WATCH: Kelly Rizzo explains why she had to 'voluntarily withdraw' from 'Special Forces'
"And so that's, I guess all I could ask for is, you know, knowing that people watching this are going to be like, 'All right, she wasn't just a wimp and … was like, 'I just don't feel like it anymore.' I really tried."
During one of her final moments on the show, Rizzo recalled one of the agents invoking Saget's name. "Well, it's funny because I think, you know, you see in this episode that [the agent] was kind of, you know, chirping in my ear a bit."
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"He was like, 'Bob's looking down on you. He's rooting for you.' And in that moment, well, first off, I was like, 'Oh, man, don't pull that on me now. Don't pull the Bob card.' You know? I was like, 'I just want to quit. Like, don't pull the Bob card.'"
"But then it actually did give me, like, a little bit more perseverance to at least get to that finish line of that one challenge," Rizzo admitted. "I'm making it to the shore. I'm not quitting in the middle of this field. I'm making it to the shore. And I think that helped a little bit."
WATCH: Kelly Rizzo says Bob Saget's daughters gave her their 'blessing' to start dating in the future
However, looking back at the situation now, Rizzo confessed that Saget would be singing a different tune.
"If you're saying Bob's saying something in my ear, Bob would be saying, ‘Get the hell out of here. Go to your nice hotel. You know, get a martini and a steak and get in your robe and take a hot shower and get a massage. Call the masseuse. Get a massage.’ Like that's what Bob would be saying … Now, looking back, I'm like, they used the wrong approach, saying ‘Bob wants you to keep going.’ I'm like, No, he doesn't."
Saget died in January 2022 at the age of 65. The couple first met in 2015 and tied the knot three years later in 2018. Saget shared daughters Aubrey, Lara and Jennifer with first wife Sherri Kramer, whom he divorced in 1997.
Earlier this month, Rizzo shared that she is "open" to dating again. In her interview with Fox News Digital, Rizzo said that the late comedian's friends have been encouraging her to "get back out there," and Saget's daughters gave her "their blessing."
"It's just one of those things where [I'm] young and everyone's like, ‘You can have a life going forward after this. Like, he would want that.' And I think when it came to the realization, you know, I've said this before, but I separate like Heavenly Bob from earthly Bob. I would think earthly Bob would be like, ‘How could you, you know?’ But ultimately, Heavenly Bob, who wants me to be happy, would be supportive of that."
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WATCH: Kelly Rizzo teases her new podcast 'Comfort Food with Kelly Rizzo'
"And I think when I finally kind of separated those two and really understood more what Heavenly Bob would want, then that's when I was like, okay, this, you know, that's something that could and should be in my future," she added.
When it comes to what she learned from "Special Forces," Rizzo admits that it was the fact that "you truly can push through things" that you might have thought were "impossible."
"I thought my comfort zone would have been like, 'There's just no way I can sleep in a room with 14 people without my sound machine and earplugs and eye mask.' And I did. You know, it wasn't easy, but I did it. And, you know, having zero creature comforts that you're used to like, I mean, no comb, no brush, no shampoo, no face wash, like nothing."
"You know, you had a toothbrush and toothpaste and deodorant and that's it. Period. End of story. So that, you know, you really can like when times get tough, you can survive with a lot less than you typically would think. And that I just learned that I could push myself further than I thought I could."
Now that "Special Forces" has wrapped, Rizzo has her sights set on her next project: her podcast titled "Comfort Food with Kelly Rizzo," set to debut in November.
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"I'm interviewing incredible guests who you all would know. My first guest was Katie Couric… that I just recorded the other day. And it's talking to people who have gone through some sort of loss in their life. And we talk about loss, love, life, laughter all while eating my guests' favorite comfort food. So, you know, we're having these important conversations over their favorite comfort food, which hopefully puts them in a more comfortable environment to have, you know, a very heartfelt and often heavy, but often lighthearted conversation."
