Trista Sutter Recalls Hitting a 'Breaking Point' onSpecial Forcesas the World 'Lost Its Mind' Over Ryan’s Cryptic Posts (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Trista Sutter on ‘Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test’.Photo:PETE DADDS / FOX

PETE DADDS / FOX

Warning: this story contains spoilers from the Jan. 15 episode ofSpecial Forces: World’s Toughest Test.

Trista Sutterknows the moment she hit her “breaking point” while competing onSpecial Forces: World’s Toughest Test.

The inauguralBachelorettestar, 52, exclusively opens up to PEOPLE about the physical toll of the show’s grueling beach exercises — including experiencing hypothermic shock — which ultimately led her to withdraw from the Fox reality series on the Jan. 15 episode.

“The beach was definitely a breaking point for me,” she recalls. “On the beach, I felt like I was going to faint.”

After being told she would need to voluntarily withdraw from the competition if she saw a medic, she initially decided she wasn’t “ready to go home,” adding, “So I kept going. And then as I was putting on my pack and leaving, my knees were buckling. I knew my body was starting to fail me.”

From left: Trista Sutter and Denise Richards on ‘Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test’.Pete Dadds/FOX

Pete Dadds/FOX

The television personality admits she was “exhausted” from the experience as viewers didn’t see about “three-quarters of what we did on the beach.”

“What you also didn’t see is in between the tasks you’re running with a pack that’s a third of my weight,” she explains. “I’m trying to run. I am not a runner normally. I have asthma. I’m out of shape. And those are not excuses at all. I don’t want that to come across as an excuse. I’m just saying that was really hard for me.”

Sutter also shares her gratitude to fellow recruits Golden Tate,Nathan AdrianandCam Newtonwho helped her along the way.

“I had angels like Golden Tate, who at one point you could see at the bridge task that he had two backpacks on, one in the front and one in the back,” she reveals. “Mine was the one in the front. And he was carrying me.”

“Him and Nathan were holding my hand as we were running to the vehicles from the bridge,” she adds. “Cam came running to get my pack from me after the beach, even though [Directing Staff member] Q was like, ‘Don’t you help her. Don’t you help her.’ And he’s like, ‘Whatever, I’m going to help her.’”

While she was away filming, Sutter’s husbandRyan’s cryptic postsabout her being gonesparked speculation about their relationship. When the rumors began, the reality star tells PEOPLE she thought “the world had lost its mind.”

Trista Sutter celebrates her 50th birthday with her husband, Ryan Sutter, on November 29, 2022 in Willemstad, Curacao.John Parra/Getty

John Parra/Getty

“Well, immediately I saw Ryan’s post and I think it’s incredibly sweet because if you have the perspective that I was filming the show when you read his post, then you know they’re not cryptic,” she explains. “He’s like, ‘I wish I was with you. I wish I could be with you. I wish I could help you through this. You need to find yourself,' and that kind of thing.”

“But this clearly went viral and it kind of filled my heart, made my heart happy that there are people out there that still care about us,” she concluded.

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Special Forces: World’s Toughest Testairs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.

source: people.com