Is There a Prize for Winning ’Special Forces’? What the Winners Get

Season 4 of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test concluded on Thursday, November 20, with Shawn Johnson and Gia Giudice being the two recruits to pass the course. They join seven other celebrities who have also accomplished making it through the abbreviated version of Special Forces training.

Since Season 1 in 2023, reality stars, former athletes, and more celebrities have taken on the course as recruits. Only two or three have passed the course each season, with the other contestants being sent home after voluntarily withdrawing, being medically withdrawn, or being disqualified by the Directing Staff (DS).

So, what do the winners get for making it through the grueling selection process? Scroll down for everything we know.

Is there a prize for winning Special Forces?

No, there is no actual, tangible prize for winning Special Forces. In fact, the narrator of the show specifically says in the intro that there is “no prize [and] no special treatment.” However, completing the course is quite an accomplishment for the stars who appear on the show, and the personal satisfaction of knowing they did it is a prize in itself.

Johnson expressed how satisfying it was to be declared the winner of Season 4, telling TV Insider, “I’m really proud we finished it.”

Giudice added that it was “rewarding” to see how far she’d come throughout the process. “I think I started off a little weak and then it was like I was in training,” she explained. “I kept getting better and better.”

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The girls joked that they “hugged each other for, like, two minutes” when the DS told them they passed.

Do Special Forces contestants get paid for being on the show?

Yes, the stars who decide to become recruits and take on the course are paid an appearance fee. The exact amount they take home from the process is not known, but their pay is reportedly based on their level of celebrity. The reported range for pay is $100,000 to $500,000, although that has not been confirmed.

On many other reality shows, contestants are paid more depending on how long they last in the competition, but it’s speculated that Special Forces contestants are given a flat fee for appearing on the show.