Savannah Chrisley Quits ‘Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test’ – How Her Parents Reacted
Savannah Chrisley is opening up about why she decided to quit the second season of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, revealing how her parents, Todd and Julie Chrisley, reacted to the news.
Monday’s (October 9) episode of the Fox reality series saw the Chrisley Knows Best star drop out of the competition, citing her family as her main reason for quitting. Since her mom and dad were imprisoned for bank and tax fraud in January, Savannah has had custody of her younger brother, Grayson, and her niece, Chloe.
“The biggest thing that I struggled with, in all honesty, is I wasn’t necessarily prepared mentally for it. I knew this was going to be tough physically going into it. I knew that. But I didn’t realize how tough it would be emotionally as well,” Savannah told Hollywood Life.
She continued, “The biggest thing for me was just leaving Chloe and Grayson and knowing that they were with my grandparents. My grandparents are older, so they’re not giving the same amount of attention that I would have given, and they weren’t getting that same amount of attention.”
Pete Dadds / FOX
“This past year in my life, us as a family, we’ve dealt with so much loss, and it kind of brought back some of those feelings, which I was not expecting,” the reality star added. “That was the biggest challenge. So at that point, I was just like, ‘It’s time for me to go home for a shower. I’m ready for a good shower. I’m ready for good food, and I’m ready to see the kids.’ I was just ready to get out.”
As for how Todd and Julie reacted to her quit, Savannah said, “Honestly, they were like, ‘Heck, I probably would have done it way sooner.’ They were like, ‘I don’t blame you.’ Especially when I told them that I was wearing wet boots in the freezing cold weather. They’re like, ‘Yeah, there’s no way. I would have been done immediately.'”
Savannah also explained that it was her parents who encouraged her to do the show, especially her mom, Julie. “My parents were really excited for me to get a break, too. That’s what people don’t understand. I have the kids 24/7. It’s challenging at 26 years old to get two children and have to keep everyday life going and work and all of their activities. It’s really tough,” she stated.
“She [Julie] was really excited for me to just have a few minutes to myself, but also, she knew she was going to be able to watch it and that was the best,” Savannah continued. “That’s what has been so exciting because even though we’re not together, we still get the opportunity to interact through this. So just for that, I will forever be grateful for the show.”
Savannah dropped out of the 10-day experience on Day 3 after the contestants were taken to the icy waters of New Zealand and instructed to do a backward dive from a steep platform. That was the moment Savannah knew she couldn’t continue.
“I was just like, ‘Alright, this is too much.’ You have to be in wet clothes — sure, they gave you something to change into, but you still had soaking wet boots, and I was at my breaking point,” she told TheWrap. “I was like, ‘I barely had any food. I’m tired. I’m cold. I miss the kids. I showed up. I proved to myself that I can do it, and now it’s my time to go.’”
But again, she reiterated that it was the kids that led to her ultimate decision to drop out.
“For the first time in my life, I actually love two people more than I love myself [and] I [was] ready to get home to them,” she said. “I was worried about them because obviously we had no phone service — there was nothing like that. I wasn’t allowed to have a phone. So it was just really tough with all the transition that we’ve had in life to just leave them. That’s what it came down to.”
Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, Mondays, 9/8c, Fox
