Candace Cameron Bure Reveals How Shawn Johnson Inspired Her to Do ‘Special Forces’

Candace Cameron Bure is heading to Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test this fall. The Full House alum opened up to TV Insider about why she was ready to take on the show for Season 5 after previously turning it down.

“I really love physical fitness, and I’m a very competitive person,” Cameron Bure admitted. “I actually was offered this show a few seasons ago, and I passed, ultimately out of fear.”

However, after turning 50 in April, she had a change of heart. “I stepped up my fitness game in the last year and a half, and so when the show offer came back around, I took a deep breath and thought to myself, ‘I think this is the opportunity and the timing that I need to say yes to,'” she explained. “I’m the kind of person that when something scares me, I want to say yes to it just to push through that fear. I don’t want fear to limit me or dictate my life. So I guess this was the year to say yes.”

She’s also friends with Shawn Johnson, who completed the course alongside Gia Giudice in Season 4. “She was my first call while I was deciding,” Cameron Bure said. “And she told me immediately, ‘You’ve got to do it. You should do it.’ And the conversations that I had with her were the most impactful in my decision to say yes to the show because she had nothing but positive things to say about it.”

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Scroll down for more from our chat with Cameron Bure about her time on Special Forces, her upcoming tour, and more.

It seems that without winning or completing Special Forces, it’s still just a positive experience, no matter what.

Candace Cameron Bure: It is. You learn a lot about yourself. I would say you learn a lot more about your weaknesses than you do about your strengths, and that’s the beauty of the show. They are there to pull some of those things out of you. So yeah, I walked away having learned a lot about myself. And for me, it was just about being a better teammate. When you get in really high-stress situations, it’s like fight or flight. Do you fight through it, or do you fly? And I realized, “Oh, I fly, man.” I just was concerned about me and only me. But it made me really look at myself and then ultimately the people around me. “How can I be a better friend, a better wife, a better mom? How can I be a better teammate?”

Would you say the physical or the mental part of it was harder for you? Because I know they really do try to pull that vulnerability out of you when you’re there.

They do. I mean, the physical is very, very difficult. At least, on my season — kind of like Shawn — I was the smallest person there. So you’re carrying those bergen bags that are 35 pounds, and I mean, that in itself is a third of my body weight. It was very challenging and heavy, so the physicality was very difficult. But the mental is the biggest part of it. Absolutely, 100%. And it gets to you for sure.

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What can you say or tease about what they were pulling out of you specifically, and what kind of stories you were able to share when you were there?

I don’t know how much I can say, but my biggest takeaway was really understanding in some of the activities that I was not a good teammate. I was way more selfish than I thought I would be because when you are so panicked, and you fight for your life … I’m a mom, and I would think like, “Oh my gosh, I’ll do anything for my child. I’ll throw myself in front of any situation. I’d rather take the bullet. I’m not going to let [anything happen to] my kids.” And yet, I kind of had those opportunities … and I know these people weren’t my children … but I was like, “Peace out, man. I’m saving myself.” And I’m sure that’s not a unique thing that we’re all inherently selfish. But when you see it actually happen, I’m like, “Oh.” I was so disappointed with myself for not being a better teammate in that way.

What side of you do you think people will see or learn about you that maybe they didn’t know before from the show?

Well, a lot of people have their opinions about me. And if you follow me and you know me, I think that you’ll see that I’m true to who I am. I mean, my faith is such a big aspect to who I am, and I’m not shy about that, but it also is something that helped me just while I was there. I memorized a lot of scripture. I had a lot of Bible verses prepared that I could draw on to keep me going. But I think it was an interesting cast of characters, and I hope that people realize that I’m a pretty fun person. I love all people. And a big group of us have a group chat, and we are friends. We made some new lifelong friendships.

Was there anyone you got particularly close to after being out there?

I mean, really, there’s a whole group of us that still talk every day, but I didn’t know half the people. And so just getting to know them … Alycia Baumgardner, who is a professional boxer, was really fantastic. I had already known Oliver Hudson, and so he was actually … as soon as I saw his face, I was so relieved that I actually knew and had worked with one person, and he was definitely the comic relief, I’ll tell you that. He was great. Which is important.

How did your husband and your family support you amid this journey and when you were deciding whether you wanted to do it?

My family’s always been supportive in whatever I want to do, and they know me. They know I like to say yes to things that scare me and do stuff that’s a little out of the box. Truthfully, my husband was scared for me. He was like, “Are you sure you want to do this? We have grandkids coming to us, and what if you get hurt? What if something happens? And then you’re an actor, your life is on camera, what if that affects you?” So there were very real fears that I had and that my husband talked about, but ultimately, they’re supportive of whatever decision I make. And my husband was like, “If you want to do this, you feel like this is something for you…” He’s like, “Absolutely. Whatever it takes, whatever you want to do.” So they all prayed for me a lot. I know they were praying every day that I was gone, and that meant so much to me.

Talk to me about your tour, because you’re going back on tour again this fall. Why is that something that you really just gravitated towards and enjoyed doing the past few years?

I’ve been on television my whole life since I was five years old and have my podcast now, so still on TV, but behind a microphone. And I love people. And so I grew up on Full House doing live television. We would have a live audience every week, and I just love the relationship, and I love community. So this is a way for me to get to be with people in person and be in their presence, not behind the TV or the microphone. So I love the live tour. We did a few cities last year, which were super fun, and everyone showed up, and so we decided to do an eight-city tour this year, and it’s just a fun night of storytelling, laughter. It’s very interactive with the audience. We’re playing trivia and games and just having fun together. I bring people up on stage, but we have great conversations.

Candace Cameron Bure/Instagram

I’m bringing Dr. Tabatha [Barber], who’s been a guest on my podcast, and we’re going to talk about women’s health, particularly from 40s, 50s, 60s, and what our bodies are all going through at this stage of the game. And I’ll be sharing stories of faith as well, and just encouragement… Everyone’s invited. It’s definitely geared towards women, but you can bring your kids, your daughters, even your husbands, whatever. It’s for everyone. But I hope you really leave having had a great night, and you feel encouraged, and that there’s a nugget of something in there that’s going to just help you with the season of life that you’re in, or make you think about some things that would be helpful to make positive changes.

Tell me a little bit about what else you have looking forward to this year, going into next year, what else is coming up?

There’s a lot. I did clear my schedule, though, at the end of this year because, once I get those grandbabies, I don’t want to go anywhere.

I’ve already filmed two Christmas movies that’ll be on Great American Family Channel and GFam+ in November. And one of them is called The Sweet Christmas Anniversary. The other one is titled A Second Chance Christmas, two very different Christmas movies in itself. And my podcast season is always running, and I have some new devotionals that are out. I have one called Wild Hope that was released last month, and I have another one coming called 100 Days of Joy and Strength. And so yeah, lots coming out towards the end of the year, but those are all finished. So I get to actually just enjoy the holidays with my grandkids and then start making movies again in the new year.

Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, Season 5 Premiere,