Disgraced ex-politician George Santos has added “reality star” to the list of jobs he’s unqualified for, which includes congressman, gambler, and law-abiding citizen.
The former New York congressman will appear in the fifth season of Fox’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test (premiering Thursday night, Sept. 24 on Fox), where instructors put contestants through a series of extreme physical and psychological challenges replicating elite military selection.
In Dec. 2023, members of the House of Representatives voted to expel Santos from Congress. In Aug. 2024, Santos pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, admitting he defrauded campaign donors, stole identities, and filed fraudulent unemployment and financial reports. He had served about two months in federal prison when Trump cut his original 87-month sentence short and released Santos in Oct. 2025.
A preview clip of Special Forces shows Santos, 38, struggling to climb out of the water and onto a dock. Each attempt ended in either an inability to hoist himself onto the dock or a slip off the dock moments after clambering atop. While floating, he swore and pounded the water with his fists.
“Come on, it’s just a wooden raft,” an instructor on the dock said. Santos failed again as another instructor yelled from a boat, “What the hell is going on over there?”
“Get the f--- out of the water!” the first instructor said. “Hurry up! I’m starting to get p---ed off.”
Actor Oliver Hudson, another contestant known for Dawson’s Creek and Rules of Engagement, then helped to pull Santos onto the dock. Santos appeared to have finally exited the lake when he, once again, slipped and plunged back into the water.
In another clip, Santos prepares to dive backward from a helicopter while an offscreen voice calls him a “dumb f---.”
“I know that I’m going to be out of my element in almost every shape or form,” Santos said in the preview. “I’m overweight. I’m not the most physically fit person. But you just fake it ‘till you make it.”
Or, in Santos’ case, you fake it ‘till Congress expels you.
