Carey Hart Surprises Wife Pink with News of His Exit from ‘Special Forces’

The recruits of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test faced a tragic setback as their Sensei, Carey Hart, had to leave the course due to an ankle injury. Hart, known for his calm and fearless leadership in Season 3, had to withdraw from the training after the unfortunate incident in tonight’s episode.

While most recruits had profound reasons for joining the show, Hart took on the challenge to push his limits. After taking a break from his career to tour with his wife, Grammy Award-winning artist Pink, and to spend time with their kids, Hart saw this as an opportunity to test himself. He revealed in an interview with DECIDER that Pink was surprised when he informed her about his early return home with just 48 hours remaining in the selection process.

Recalling his conversation with Pink, Hart shared, “The first thing she asked was, ‘Are you okay?’ She was concerned about my well-being. I reassured her that it was nothing I couldn’t handle.”

Despite leaving the course early, Hart felt a sense of “fulfillment” when he returned home to his family. “I felt that I did a good job,” he said. “I accomplished what I set out to do, and I had a bit of pride and fulfillment coming home.”

While Hart was surely a fan-favorite in Season 3, don’t expect to see him on another competition reality series! The dad of two, who praised the Special Forces production team for fully immersing the cast in the experience, said, “I would have a hard time doing any other show because this show set the bar so high.”

Hart also opened up about the directing staff giving him a “pat on the back” following his exit and “trauma bonding” with his fellow recruits. Check out the full interview below.

DECIDER: Carey, I’m so excited to be talking to Special Forces Season 3’s Sensei. You talked a lot about how you put your motocross career on the backburner when you had kids. Do you feel like you got the adrenaline rush you were craving out of this experience? Or are you already looking for the next rush?

CAREY HART: Yeah, definitely. I mean, I still compete at a lower level. It’s just I had to put my wife’s career, tour life [and] kids first. So things did have to take an element of a backseat. But yeah, this was really great for me because, you know, I can still play in my pond that is freestyle motocross and do some racing here and there, but I don’t get to push at the level that I used to when I was younger. This was something completely new where I didn’t really know what I was getting into other than watching the prior seasons. And I was able just to immerse myself and just give it 100% each moment that I was there. 

You said your wife was going to laugh her ass off right before you left the show and I think it was Brody who said she was gonna be pissed about you getting hurt. Was she? How did she react when she got the call that you were going to be coming home? 

You know, I ended up FaceTiming her that night. For me, it was like – God, I got hurt at, like, midnight and got back to the hotel about 2 in the morning in UK time. So she was kind of startled to see the call from me. And, you know, the first thing out of her mouth is like, “OK, are you OK?” Because I was about, I guess, 48 hours shy of the end of the show. She’s like, “Alright, you’re hurt. Are you OK?” And I was like, “No, it’s nothing that I’m not used to.” Unfortunately, it was an old debilitating injury in my ankle that flared up while on the show. 

When the medic suggested you take a medical leave, you said, “Why now?” What was going through your head at that moment? And, more importantly, have you healed from your injuries?

It was just because I was so close from the end. At least [with] my experience, the first handful of days or even more so that middle chunk is kind of the most mentally challenging because you’re like, “Oh, man.” You could start to count days down. And I just had to immerse myself and not focus on what day, what time of day it was. So, you know, for me, it was just kind of a bummer because like I said, I was somewhere right around, I don’t know, 48 hours from the end of everything. And obviously at that point I’ve gotten over the hump and I’m just like, I just want to get to that final moment of this event and get to shake the DS’s hands in a victorious standpoint, not from an injury standpoint. 

You were so close! That last exercise you did before leaving was pretty grueling. What was it like to finally hear the DS say something positive to you after they took your armband?

It truly was flattering. I didn’t really know what to expect. From my experience there, I just kind of put my head down. I’m not a shy person, but I’m not by any means an extrovert. So I was just kind of there doing my own thing and trying to be a good teammate to everybody that was on the show. And to get that kind of response from the DS was a real solid pat on the back for me, even though I felt like I kind of failed myself not making it to the end. 

Speaking of a pat on the back, at one point, Golden Tate said he wants to be you when he grows up. Was there anyone on the show who really inspired you? 

I mean, truthfully, everybody inspired me. That was a great opportunity for me because I’m in a little bit of a bubble, right? Like I do my motocross and street bike thing, and I have my old school friends and I have my wife’s group of friends and career. So I don’t really get to step outside of my circle very often. So to be in a situation like that where, you know, most people were quite a bit younger than I am, and just to get to learn and meet different walks of life and understand their lives. We did have moments, not a lot, but we did have moments of downtime where we could get to know each other. And I think Cam [Newton] said it best when we were doing a press tour a couple of weeks ago. We created trauma bonds. And a bond like that is definitely different from a random person you happen to meet at an event and keep in touch through phone.

There was a lot you had to do this season. You were gassed, buried alive, submerged in a sinking boat. What was the most difficult challenge for you and why?

I would say probably the water based stuff. I’m a desert rat. I’m from Las Vegas. If it’s not 90 degrees out, it’s a cold day for me. I’m truthfully not a great swimmer. So I was a little nervous going into the water challenges. Those were the biggest mental hurdles for me. Truthfully, in a weird, twisted way, I was very excited for the gas opportunity because I’ve never been able to do something like that. For me it was a big like, can I survive this or not? Whether it’s individual challenges or the brutal workouts we had to do.

The gas was the scary one! But you and Kyla Pratt did such a great job with that.

Yeah, she was a great partner in that challenge because I was a little all over the place and she was a little bit more focused. But as she started to have the effects of the gas, I got to kind of step in as a good teammate. And yeah, we were the only ones that passed it. 

Everyone has these super vulnerable conversations with the DS in the mirror room at one point or another. Did you find it easy to open up to them? 

Yeah, it was for me because that’s a long conversation that we have in that room. And part of what I was saying is like – no offense to anybody else – but I didn’t really have a romantic or a life-changing reason why [I joined the show]. I didn’t need to go find myself. I was just there because I wanted to challenge myself and see if – at the time I was 48 years old – if I still had it, between my mental side and more so my physical side because of all the prior injuries that I have. So it was really easy to talk to those guys and I appreciated that one on one time with them. 

When I talked to Christy Carlson Romano, she said she had some nightmares after coming home but was grateful production had therapists checking in. How was your experience transitioning back into the groove of your normal life?

It was pretty easy for me because, like I said, my day to day lifestyle is a little different from your average person, I would say. I’m constantly kind of pushing myself through motocross and I still love all kinds of action sports. I still ride BMX and downhill mountain bike and all these kinds of wild things. So for me, honestly, coming home, it was just fulfillment. I felt that I did a good job. I accomplished what I set out to do, and I had a bit of pride and fulfillment coming home. 

What next for you? Will we see you doing any other competition shows in the future? If so, which ones would you like to do?

Yeah, I don’t think so. I’m a little further into my life and I dipped the toe in the reality TV world when I was younger with different TV shows and stuff that I did. Like I said, this was just a big challenge for me. I think what was so special about this show is the not knowing what to truly expect and the complete immersion in this. People that are watching the show don’t really understand that everything that was happening at camp was all by remote cameras. You didn’t see another body. And when we were in the field doing a challenge, they were shooting long lens and they couldn’t even make eye contact with us, let alone have a conversation with us. So it was full immersion, so I would have a hard time doing any other show because this show set the bar so high. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Fox.