Kelly Rizzo Says Knowing Bob Saget Was 'Rooting' for Her on “Special Forces” Gave Her 'a Little Extra Oomph' (Exclusive)

The Eat Travel Rock founder, who voluntarily withdrew from 'Special Forces: World's Toughest Test' on Monday's episode, tells PEOPLE her exit "ultimately was for the best"

Kelly Rizzo made a tough call on Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test while prioritizing what's best for herself going forward.

Monday's episode saw the Eat Travel Rock founder, 44, voluntarily withdrawing from the show. But this wasn't a decision she took lightly.

"I had told myself from day one, you know, talking with my family and everything that. My dad even was very adamant. He goes, 'You do not quit. You do not give up,'" Rizzo exclusively tells PEOPLE. "And then, we discussed even as a family, unless I'm injured or my body just cannot go on, I am not leaving. I will not quit because of fear because something looks scary or I'm just uncomfortable."

"It will only be if I physically can't go on anymore and I will say that's what happened. The body was broken. It was truly completely broken down to where you see I had nothing left in me," she continues. "I was already really unwell before that last challenge. I was in so much pain, and they convinced me to stay. And then, of course, it's the hardest challenge that anybody faced the entire time."

Related: Kelly Rizzo Remembers 'Brilliant, Adorable' Husband Bob Saget 1 Year After He Died: 'I Miss His Sweetness'

Because of the physical toll being on the show took on her, including being in "such physical pain" that she "could barely walk," Rizzo felt she needed to "take one for the team."

"At the end, I was just dead weight," she explains, adding, "Even though they were upset ... to leave the team ultimately was for the best."

But Special Forces was as emotionally taxing as it was physically, according to Rizzo, who recalls being "just a mess" by the end of her run.

"We were sleep-deprived. I was getting maybe three hours and [still had to] do this crazy stuff," she says, noting how it's something "they don't really show" on the series.

"The physical part then made me break down emotionally because you're so depleted of energy and comfort that it just made me just break down completely," she shares. "It was like the physical and the emotional were all in one together. And you end with just, like, a puddle on the ground. Tyler [Cameron] had to pick me up."

Rizzo joined season 2 of the Fox reality series a year and a half after her husband, Bob Saget, died suddenly at age 65. For her, being a part of the show was a way for her to "find my limits, which I did" and "find out how strong I really was."

"I did learn that I can push through things that are just uncomfortable for me, which usually, in the past, would have made me just give up, like, 'Oh, I can't sleep well. I'm not in a comfy bed. I don't have my sound machine or my eye mask.' Like, 'I'm out of here,' you know?" she says. "But I pushed through that."

As the going got tough, Rizzo remembers how one of the instructors was "kind of chirping in my ear a lot" about how Saget was "looking down" on her and "rooting" for her.

"I remember that did give me a little extra oomph at the end to like, push even a little harder," she says.

Although Rizzo notes that she "would go back," she jokingly suggests the Full House alum would have advised her not to go in the first place.

"Looking back now, what's so funny is I'd be like, 'If Bob were really chirping in my ear, he would have been like, 'Get the hell out of here. Go home, get comfy, put on your pajamas, order room service and get a massage,'" she says. "That's what he'd be telling me to do. He'd be like, 'What are you doing? Get the hell out of here.'"

Now that her time on Special Forces has come and gone, the media personality is gearing up to launch a new podcast that combines many of her passions together.

Related: Kelly Rizzo Is ‘Open’ to Dating Again but Jokes Late Husband Bob Saget Wouldn’t Want Her ‘Too Happy’

"My big thing is my podcast, Comfort Food with Kelly Rizzo, comes out very soon. I believe next month we'll be launching it," she says. "I just did my first episode with Katie Couric and [I'm] recording a bunch more over the next few weeks. I am having talks with amazing people who everyone will know who have gone through a tough time in their life."

"The loss of a loved one or a divorce or whatever it is. We talk about that, have a conversation about life, love, laughter, loss, while eating my guests' favorite comfort food," she concludes. "So it makes it a suitable happy experience for them to talk about important conversations that sometimes people are a little scared to talk about."

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Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.

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