Candace Cameron Bure looked to her faith to keep her going on Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test season 5.
“I memorized a lot of scripture before I left,” Candace, 50, exclusively told Us ahead of the season 5 finale on Thursday, November 12, during a joint interview with husband Valeri Bure. “Just memorizing scripture about fear and perseverance and endurance. There was a constant reel in my mind that I was just citing scripture, just giving myself the encouragement to walk through it.”
Candace shared that she and the other fellow recruits “had really great conversations” at night while spending time in their barrack, which was located in the jungles of Malaysia.
“We were saying prayers at night,” she said. “There were other Christian believers in the room, so it was a source of comfort for me, but I think for a lot of us in the room. It had a huge impact on me, to keep me going.”
While on the show, Candace climbed down a 30-foot rope ladder hanging off a suspension bridge, navigated the stomach flu and jumped out of a helicopter — just to name a few of her feats. But what pushed Candace close to her breaking point was the chemical warfare challenge featuring tear gas.
“I thought I was going to die. I was ready to leave the show at that point,” she admitted to Us, adding that she thought she was “genuinely gonna quit.”
In the heat of the moment, Candace took off her arm band — which typically signals a voluntary withdrawal from the recruit — but the footage didn’t air on TV.
“What you didn’t see is that I actually did rip up my like rip off my armband because I thought I was trapped in the tear gas,” she told Us. “I didn’t know that there was an exit and I thought I was about to die because it swells your neck, you’re burning, you’re itching, and I just wanted to get out. I ripped it out, like, ‘I need to get out. I need to get out.’”
Candace admitted that she “wasn’t rationally thinking” at the moment, noting that she “didn’t have to withdraw” just to leave the challenge.
“Once I got out, I thought that was it for me,” she recalled. “And one of the DS, [Jason “Foxy” Fox], he actually picked up my armband and goes, ‘I think you dropped this, didn’t you?’ And I was like, ‘Yes, yes, sir, yes, staff.’ And I put it back on, and I was actually relieved because I’m like I didn’t want to leave the show. I was just so panicked and didn’t know how to get out.”
Candace, alongside Collin Gosselin and Alexia Umansky, ultimately passed selection in the season 5 finale. While recalling the moment, Candace admitted she felt “shocked” that she made it to the end.
“That whole night — it was a 24-hour day, so you are so sleep deprived and you don’t know what’s going on. I genuinely thought the other people were separated and it was still a part of the day. I didn’t know we were at the final selection,” she told Us. “When we were all declared winners, I was so happy, but I was so confused. Because I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ Once the reality hit, it was just a big sigh of relief and like, ‘Wow, it’s over. We did it. This is incredible.’ And it was just fun to share it with the others too.”
While Candace may have surprised herself with her win, Valeri, 52, was not the least bit shocked back home.
“She’s a tough little cookie and I was not surprised when I didn’t receive the call on the first day, or second day and the third day,” he exclusively told Us. “[We] don’t have a side bet, but we kind of [were] like, ‘Well, what do you think?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, your mom is gonna go all the way.’ I think everybody that knows Candace closely bet on her to go all the way. So that was super exciting.”
Candace became emotional at Valeri’s sweet message of support, adding, “Makes me teary-eyed. … That’s why community is so important and just having loved people that encourage you and cheer you on along the way. It means a lot.”
Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test is streaming now on Hulu.
