‘Special Forces’ Preview: George Santos Is Out of His ‘Element’ Attempting Backwards Dive

Alyssa Norwin September 24, 2026, 11:00 am

What To Know

George Santos is a contestant on Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.
In TV Insider’s exclusive premiere sneak peek, he takes on a challenge of diving backwards out of a helicopter.
Santos admitted he’s not in the best shape and said he’s out of his element on the course.

George Santos is putting himself back in the spotlight in Season 5 of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test. After his three-month prison stint on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in 2025 (he was commuted by Donald Trump in October), the disgraced politician will be taking on the physically demanding Special Forces course on the Fox series.

TV Insider has an exclusive sneak peek at the September 24 premiere, which sees Santos attempting a backwards dive out of a helicopter. The Directing Staff (DS) are not taking it easy on him, with one shouting, “Come on, you dumb f**k!”

As Santos hesitantly makes his way to the edge of the helicopter, he’s berated by the DS once again.

“I know that I’m going to be out of my element in almost every shape or form,” he admits. “I’m overweight, I’m not the most physically fit person. But you just fake it ’til you make it.”

Pete Dadds/Fox

The end of his statement almost seemed like a reference to his past public controversy. Santos was a U.S. Representative for New York’s 3rd Congressional District from January to December 2023, but was expelled from his seat when it was revealed that he had fabricated both his professional and personal biography to win the position. He was sentenced to 87 months in prison, but only served three after Trump’s commutation.

“Prison was hard. This was harder,” he told Us Weekly of his time on Special Forces. “This challenges you. I mean, prison tortures you … [but] this really demands you to actually show up all the time, whereas in our broken [incarceration] system in this country, you’re just meat.”

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Santos added that he knew the other contestants were probably not going to want to be around him due to his past. “There were some cold initial introductions that evolved later on into the show,” he admitted. “And I was humbled by that.”

Check out the full sneak peek in the video above.

Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, Season 5 Premiere, Thursday, September 24, 9/8c, Fox