On a recent episode of her Casual Chaos podcast, Next Gen NYC star Gia Giudice welcomed actor and fellow Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test competitor Ravi Patel to talk about their time competing on the FOX reality series, as well as their respective takes on cast member Kody Brown.
Weeks before the Season 4 premiere of ‘Special Forces,’ both Gia and Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia hinted that they each had issues with the Sister Wives star during filming, with Brianna recently doubling down by calling Kody a “narcissist” and “f**king crazy” and revealing that she initially “thought he was mentally slow.”
While speaking with Ravi on her podcast, Gia began by talking about Kody’s physicality on the show, with Ravi admitting that the father of 18’s speed was so impressive that he initially believed Kody was under the influence of something.
“I thought he must be on amphetamines because he was racing up and down that hill,” Ravi recalled. “He was zipping by me, almost like a cartoon. I was like, something’s wrong. This guy just did meth that’s the only way this is possibly happening.
“He was flying by professional athletes,” he continued. “It was unlike anything I’ve seen and he was like that throughout the competition. That guy deserves whatever gold medal.”
Gia went on to tell listeners that Kody informed his fellow castmates on the show that before coming to Morocco, he “would climb and hike mountains” at high elevations, with Ravi adding that Kody would do handstands for warmups.
“He walked around in a handstand for a warm-up and he would work out for three or four hours a day,” Ravi said, to which Gia added, “And he always had a weighted vest. The state that he was in and how physically fit he was for his age was wildly impressive. Wildly impressive.”
While it doesn’t seem that Kody managed to walk away from ‘Special Forces’ as the favorite among his castmates, Ravi and Gia did have some complimentary words to say about the polarizing TLC star.
“I think he’s the most-interesting guy in the cast,” Ravi said. “He obviously comes from the oddest background. He’s an eccentric dude.”
Even Gia, despite her previous comments, claimed that Kody was “very caring” and “one of the most physically fit” of the 18 Season 4 competitors, while acknowledging that he also “faces a lot of controversy.”
“He was advanced,” she said. “He could just speed through these challenges. Maybe he wasn’t the best team player, but he tried. He really tried.”
Like Gia, Ravi called Kody “the most-controversial within the cast,” though he said it’s something that most people figured out “within the first hour or two” of meeting Kody, due to him being “so eccentric.” (Ravi also noted that his experience with Kody may have been different because he and Kody didn’t sleep on the same side of the tent during the competition.)
“His personality is like an earnest 12-year-old boy,” Ravi said of Kody. “Like, he’s excited to be there and he’s always saying what he’s thinking in his head out loud. He’s always giving everyone unsolicited tips on what needs to happen next, but [he] really means well.
“I know he rubbed at least a couple people the wrong way, but I didn’t actually see any of that,” he added.
Gia and Ravi also speculated that some of the personality traits Kody exhibited while filming may have been a result of things going on in his personal life regarding his family. (As ‘Sister Wives’ fans know, three of Kody’s four wives divorced him between 2021 and 2023 and the father of 18 has been estranged from many of his children for years. He and wife Robyn continue to live in Flagstaff, Arizona, with their three adult and two tenders minor children.)
“He kind of misses having that father role,” Gia said. “I don’t know where his kids are, but I think he only lives with one of his kids. You could tell that he missed that father role and he always looked for somebody to look after … .”
Ravi went on to tell podcast listeners that while Kody’s people skills, social skills and emotional skills “are probably not where he wants them to be,” the actor seemed to give the former polygamist credit for trying to better himself, in spite of what he’s “going through.”
“ … it appears he’s trying to reinvent himself and grow up socially/emotionally in a way that I don’t know he’s given the time before,” he said.
New episodes of ‘Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test’ air Thursdays on FOX.
Click here to listen to Ravi’s episode of Casual Chaos.
(Photos: FOX; YouTube; TLC; Instagram)
4 Responses
Ya I’m not sure about this I don’t know if he’s just become a good actor because he’s a narcissist and they have to have people see what they need them to see so that people can say man he’s really trying ya no hes just making you buy into his story of being the victim and show himself trying to improve well if you want to be a dad then man the f*** up and be one I’m sorry I don’t believe anything about who he made ppl believe hes trying to be the training and stuff I dunno cause i didn’t watch maybe I will or had it come on
😂 I love how all the cute and “manly” things he does around his blushing bride come off manic and unstable to others in real life.
everytime i open this page i always see how problematic kody is 😭😂
“You could tell that he missed that father role and he always looked for somebody to look after … .”
But not enough to actually be a father to more than Robyn’s kids. They’re acting like he is the victim when he is the problem.