Coolio Endures 'Boot Camp' on FOX

Thursday, September 26, 2002

When asked why he agreed to take part in FOX's reality special, "Celebrity Boot Camp," rapper-actor Coolio replies, "I was tricked into it."

"I was told that it was like 'Fear Factor' or something, that it was not going to be like real boot camp and not to worry about it," he recalls. He ended up winning the NBC reality game show, but wasn't quite prepared for the challenges of the FOX special. "It was real boot camp, only worse, because we were celebrities and they wanted to really lay it on kind of thick," he says.

The Grammy Award-winning and multi-platinum recording artist appears alongside Traci Bingham ("Baywatch"), David Faustino ("Married?with Children" ), Lorenzo Lamas ("Renegade"), Barry Williams ("The Brady Bunch") and Nikki Schieler Ziering ("The Price is Right"). Other celebrities including Kato Kaelin, Milli Vanilli's Fabrice Morvan and pop singers Tiffany and Vitamin C don fatigues for the show.

Former Marine Corps drill instructors train and teach the recruits how to complete a variety mental and physical tests. Then they gradually narrow the field of players to the strongest two, who go on to compete in a grueling eight-event competition called the "Gauntlet." The winner takes home up to $100,000.

According to Coolio, the hardest part of the competition was not the physical challenges, it was the psychological aspect. "Some of the techniques they use are brainwashing techniques like sleep deprivation and that sort of thing," he says. "Also, the training is designed to create instantaneous obedience to orders. I totally understand it, it's just not for me," he laughs.

Although he's pretty good under stress, after his boot camp experience, Coolio doesn't think he's a born soldier. "I don't like people screaming and hollering at me, man. You don't have to do that to get your point across to me," he explains.

Coolio wouldn't reveal who won the competition, but the rapper says the most natural soldiers of the bunch were Barry Williams, Lorenzo Lamas and David Faustino. "They were gung ho," he says, but for the most part, the celebrities were "a bunch of cotton balls in a Q-Tip patch. They were soft, all of them," he says, and after a pause adds, "Even me, a little bit."

In fact, he was ready to walk away after the first day. "A bunch of people were talking about quitting. I just stayed because nobody else quit," he admits. Don't look for Coolio to return for "Celebrity Boot Camp 2." "It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my complete entire life," he says. "I've finished my tour."

"Celebrity Boot Camp" airs Monday, Sept. 30 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.