Former RHOBH Star Reveals Her Reality TV ‘Dealbreaker’

Denise Richards had one major “dealbreaker” before she agreed to join the cast of “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.”

During a January 2025 appearance on the “Almost Famous” podcast, the former  “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star said she refused to join the Fox competition show unless she was given a “private toilet” in lieu of a “porta- potty” as the other cast members shared.

“I got us a toilet,” Richards said on the podcast. “That is something I brought up when I was asked to do the show. I was like, ‘There is no freaking way.’ Otherwise, I won’t go to the bathroom for the whole time. I am not going to sit next to someone on television and go potty.’”

“So it took them a couple of weeks to get back to us because that was my dealbreaker,” the mom of three added. “And I’m sure…next season someone’s going to be like, ‘Well, Denise Richards got a toilet!’ But they got a toilet and hid it.”

Richards explained, “I said, ‘I am not gonna have a target on my back where it’s only my toilet, so I don’t want anyone to know…  I didn’t want to say anything and have everybody angry at me.”

Richards noted that she was able to find the enclosed, hidden toilet “right away.”

Richards, 53, competed on “Special Forces” against Nathan Adrian, Stephen Baldwin, Alana Blanchard, Romano, Landon Donovan, Carey Hart, Brody Jenner, Marion Jones, Ali Manno, Cam Newton, Kayla Nicole, Kyel Pratt, Kayla Nicole, Trista Sutter, Golden Tate, and Jordyn Wieber, according to Deadline. The series films in Wales.

Denise Richards Originally Turned Down ‘Special Forces’

FOX

While she got the toilet deal worked out, Richards admitted that she previously turned down an offer to join an earlier season of  “Special Forces.”

“It was an opportunity to do something I’ve never done before, very challenging and completely out of my comfort zone,” she told E! News in a January 2025 interview. “It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done, and I was scared to death to do it. I actually passed on season 2 because I saw season 1 and I said, ‘There’s no way.’” 

“[I’m] grateful they asked me for season 3, but it was challenging,” she added.

Denise Richards’ Daughters Still Didn’t Want Her to Join ‘Special Forces’

Getty

The toilet topic wasn’t the only issue that Richards faced once she finally  decided to accept the offer to compete in “Special Forces.” In an interview with People magazine, she revealed that her daughters Sami, Lola, and Eloise did not want her to do the show at all. “They were afraid I was going to get hurt or get killed, and they were actually really angry,” the “Bold and the Beautiful” alum said.

She told E! News, “My daughters were terrified. They did not want me to do it. They that I was maybe not gonna make it home.”

In early January, Richards talked about an injury she suffered during filming. Speaking on SiriusXM’s “Jeff Lewis Live,” she revealed that she hurt her back and “ruptured” her breast implants while doing a bridge jumping stunt for the series.

Richards withdrew from the competition in Week 1 after asking to sit out of a Navy SEAL surf immersion exercise.