Naman Shrestha
Based on the British reality series titled ‘SAS: Who Dares Wins,’ Fox’s ‘Special Forces‘ or ‘Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test’ is a military training reality series that brings together several celebrity contestants who must fight through a series of intense training challenges. Being no different than the inaugural iteration, the sophomore round again puts a total of 14 celebrity participants through the wringer by putting them through a set of emulated special forces training challenges.
Having been removed from society to spend their time in camp indulging in high-intensity tasks, the celebrity contestants must live by the rules and conditions set by the staff sergeants of the camp. With Rudy Reyes, Jason Fox, Mark “Billy” Billingham, and Jovon Quarles as the Directing Staff instructors of season 2, ‘Special Forces’ involves several picturesque yet extreme settings in the backdrop, making the audience wonder where the second season of the reality series was filmed.
Special Forces Season 2 Filming Locations
‘Special Forces’ season 2 was filmed in its entirety in New Zealand, specifically in a mountainous area. Prinipcal photography for the sophomore round of the reality show took place in the summer of 2023, sometime between June and July 2023. Now, without further ado, let’s traverse through the specific locations where the contestants embark on some of the toughest physical as well as mental challenges they have faced in life!
New Zealand
The shooting for the second round of ‘Special Forces’ was carried out in New Zealand, possibly in and around the Queenstown area as there are plenty of mountains and hills surrounding the resort town, making for a fitting backdrop and scenery. On top of the challenging tasks, the contestants must also deal with and battle the freezing temperatures in the mountains of New Zealand. As a matter of fact, there are several challenges that the participants go through in different natural settings.
For instance, a frozen lake where the participants must submerge themselves, a 4,700-foot tall snowcapped mountain which they are required to trek, and icy waters where they are submerged after embarking on an emergency escape out of a helicopter, are some of the many places where the contestants find themselves competing in intense tasks. Moreover, a task involved them running down the wall of one of the dams with several mountain ranges in the backdrop. Other than providing a chilling backdrop, the cold environment of the New Zealand mountains elevates the intensity of the challenges as well.
New Zealand is home to a number of stunning and gigantic peaks and mountains, which are captured beautifully in all the episodes of ‘Special Forces’ season 2. Some of the notable mountains in the nation that you might be able to spot in the backdrop of various scenes are Aoraki / Mount Cook, Mount Ruapehu, Mount Tongariro, Tititea / Mount Aspiring, and Rahotu / Mitre Peak, to name a few.
Read More: Is Special Forces World’s Toughest Test Scripted or Real?
