Brittany Cartwright Reveals How She Told Son Cruz, 4, About Joining ‘Special Forces’ (Exclusive)

Brittany Cartwright found it “really difficult” being away from son Cruz while she completed her Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test training.

“I had never left my son that long, and [the show’s] very strict on, like, if you can call somebody,” Brittany, 36, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting season 4 of the Fox competition. “You’re by yourself there. So, that was really difficult for me because I’ve never, ever been gone from Cruz more than two or three days on a work trip.”

Brittany shares son Cruz, 4, with estranged husband Jax Taylor, from whom she filed for divorce in 2024. Brittany also has primary custody of Cruz.

“[Filming Special Forces] was definitely the longest time I’d ever been away from him. That was really hard,” Brittany told Us. “The best thing ever was coming back home, and with Cruz’s autism, I just really wanted to make sure he knew that I was coming back and that I was going to be there.”

Brittany, who previously shared in April that Cruz was diagnosed with autism, made sure to video-chat with her son “any chance that [she] got” between training tasks.

“That was, like, super important for me,” she said. “I brought a photo of him with me, but he was happy to see me when I got back. He’s my little baby even though he’s so big and he’s 4.”

Cruz was part of Brittany’s motivation for signing up for Special Forces in the first place.

“I just wanted to show him, like, even if things are scary, you can still try,” the Valley star said. “It was just something that I thought I should try to see what I could do and really push myself with everything I’ve been through all the ups and downs in my life lately. I just really wanted to see what it would be like.”

She continued, “[In the past], I was told I couldn’t do this or I couldn’t do that … like, ‘A woman shouldn’t own a house or take care of the yard.’ I just really wanted to put myself out there.”

In the end, Brittany gushed that she felt “empowered” in trying something new and tackling the Special Forces course.

“I’m in a much better place now,” she teased to Us. “It was a terrifying, crazy experience being on Special Forces, but I’m in such a better place than I have been in a long time.”

Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test season 4 premieres on Fox Thursday, September 25, at 9 p.m. ET.