Kate Gosselin Joined Rigorous New Boot Camp Reality Series Because She 'Wanted Cool Mom Points'
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Kate Gosselin is stepping way outside her comfort zone.
The former Kate Plus 8 star is opening up about her experience competing on FOX's grueling Special Forces: World's Toughest Test reality series.
"It was intense," Gosselin, 47, tells PEOPLE of the show, which sees 15 other celebrities — including Jamie Lynn Spears, the Spice Girls' Melanie "Mel B" Brown and Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kenya Moore — undergo demanding training sessions and dangerous challenges based on the experiences of an elite team of ex-special forces operatives.
She admits, "I knew I was crazy going into it, but as afraid of it as I was — because I kept trying to be like, 'No, no, I can't do that!' — then I'd find myself awake at night being like, But what if I could?"
Pete Dadds/FOX
Gosselin adds that she was inspired to do the show by her kids: 21-year-old twin daughters Mady and Cara and 18-year-old sextuplets Hannah, Collin, Alexis, Aaden, Joel and Leah with ex-husband Jon Gosselin.
"I really secretly wanted cool mom points, especially from my boys," she says. "I mean, obviously if I was in my 20s, I'd have a better chance of whipping it. But I knew, given my age, I mean let's be real, how far could I go? I knew my mental determination could take me [far], but my physical status, I'm not physically running marathons currently. So that part was really worrying, but at the same time, just even giving it a shot I thought would bring me some cool mom points."
RELATED: Jamie Lynn Spears, Kate Gosselin and More Stars Test Their Survival Skills in Special Forces
Gosselin also notes she drew on her experience giving birth to her sextuplets during the competition.
"I really did want to test my mental ability," she says. "I mean I had six babies, which that was pure mental, not giving up. I was on bed rest for 24 weeks total and sitting in the hospital for 10 weeks. Every day I [said] out loud to myself, 'You cannot give up.' It was a mental and physical game."
Gosselin continues, "That's when I learned how really you can talk yourself in or out of anything. Your brain is so much more powerful than we give it credit for. So that part, I already had a taste of having been pregnant with them and literally crying because I felt 85 but knew I couldn't give up because it would be to their detriment really if they were born too early. So that part I knew I had clicked into a little bit and I really wanted to see how far I could take that."
Pete Dadds/FOX
Other stars joining the series include Hannah Brown from The Bachelorette, Olympic freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, NBA player Dwight Howard, former Trump aide Anthony Scaramucci, 7th Heaven actress Beverley Mitchell, Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin, former professional soccer player Carli Lloyd, famed pastor and R&B star Montell Jordan, former MLB player Mike Piazza, Dr. Drew Pinsky of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, former NFL star Danny Amendola and celebrity chef Tyler Florence.
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Special Forces: World's Toughest Test premieres Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
