Phil Keoghan Talks ‘Tough as Nails’ Season 5 ‘Elite’ Cast — See Martin Short’s Premiere Cameo (VIDEO)
Tough as Nails has hit its stride with Season 5, says venerated host Phil Keoghan. With several years now under its (tool) belt, the series has worked out all the kinks and found the perfect formula for a captivating season of reality competition TV.
Opening casting up to Canadians, plus filming in Canada, made for the biggest audition pool the series has ever seen. Keoghan sees this as a sign that the show’s reputation now speaks for itself. Case in point: They got proud Canadian Martin Short to film a cameo for the contestants in the Season 5 premiere. See the sweet message in the TV Insider exclusive clip above.
The players are competing in Hamilton, Ontario in the premiere, where Short was born and raised. He says it’s “affectionately known as ‘The Hammer and Steel Town'” of Canada. “My father worked just a mile away from where you’re standing at one of Canada’s leading steel factories,” he tells the contestants. “If you want tough, you’ve come to the right place.”
After premiering in the fall and winter for Seasons 2-4, Tough as Nails returns to summer programming for Season 5. The season premiere kicks off Sunday, July 2 at 8/7c on CBS, and fans will be treated to two episodes per week. Like its Sunday airings, Tough as Nails Season 5 will also air on Fridays at 8/7c. The series celebrates everyday workers who consider the calluses on their hands a badge of honor. Competitors are tested for their strength, endurance, agility, and mental toughness in challenges that take place in the real world.
Unlike other reality competition shows, no one is sent home after being eliminated. Even after they “punch out” of the individual competition, they will have the opportunity to win additional prizes in the team competitions that continue throughout the season. The series redefines what it means to be tough, proving that it comes in all shapes and sizes.
Matt Barnes/CBS
TV Insider caught up with Keoghan ahead of the premiere. Calling from India, where he was filming the upcoming season of The Amazing Race (which will be airing supersized 90-minute episodes this fall along with Survivor), the host was brimming with excitement about the cast and challenges of Tough as Nails Season 5. The excitement did come after a playful jab at Canadians, though.
“I think I just folded under the pressure” to open the casting up to all of North America, Keoghan jokes. “It all became too much. It was either drive me to drink or just accept that they were going to be able to compete. I decided that it might be better for my health if I just let them compete.”
In all seriousness, “Canadians, they just really get the show,” he says. “They understand it. They were like, ‘Hey, Phil, what the hell? We’re tough as nails. We’re right here. Please don’t ignore us and allow us to come on the show and prove ourselves.’ Suddenly, the show went from the best of the best in America to the best of the best in North America, with an extra pool of 30-something million people … There’s just such a great mix of characters now that really make this an even more dynamic cast. We definitely have the elite of the elite cast this season.”
One member of the 12-person cast Keoghan points out is Paul Hamilton, a firefighter who survived cancer and is “a jack of all trades.” Did Paul and the other Canadians’ toughness differ from the Americans’? “I think Canada and America are a little bit like New Zealand and Australia,” says the Kiwi. “[New Zealand is like] the little brother. Canadians are like the little brother. So they’ve got a little bit of a chip on their shoulder … like they have to prove themselves to the big brother. But I think it gives them an edge. I would venture to say that the Canadians collectively were probably even more competitive at times.”
Robin Cymbaly/CBS
The teams won’t be split by country, but there will be some individual matches that wind up being Canada vs. America by chance, he explains. “This is a long-standing rivalry, right? Like Canada vs. the U.S., it certainly has played out on the ice a few times,” he says, noting “it’s a healthy competition and a respectful competition” this season. That is the general vibe of this series. Everyone’s a team player on Tough as Nails, even when competing for the top titles. It’s a testament to the working-class mentality that the show was made to honor.
Having Short join the party to celebrate these workers was a “huge honor” for Keoghan, who’s a big fan of the Only Murders In the Building star. “It’s a real badge of honor to have someone of Martin Short’s caliber say, ‘Yeah, I’ll be a part of this. I’ll be a part of helping you honor these men and women.'” The video above marks Short’s only appearance in the season, Keoghan shares. But it was a welcome one.
Having more applicants than ever before was a sign to Keoghan that the word has gotten out about this series. Leading up to the premiere, he’s been calling these 12 contestants a group of “top gun” players. Why? “These are the baddest badasses that we’ve ever had is what I’m saying,” says the host.
“Because of the pool of people that we’re selecting from, the standard of applications has increased,” he goes on. “That is on top of the fact that we’re now five seasons in. We’ve shot five seasons in less than two years, and that’s a lot of TV. I’m not sure how many shows have shot that many seasons for competition reality that quickly. And so word of mouth has got out.”
Robin Cymbaly/CBS
He recalls having to “explain things at the most basic level about how the show works” on The Amazing Race Season 1 and Tough as Nails, but he’s happy that’s no longer a required task on either of the shows. Now, the fervor to be on Tough as Nails is the strongest it’s ever been, and the auditions were “brutal” but impressive as a result.
“We have a thing that’s like a litmus test for anybody who comes on the show,” Keoghan explains. The players go through a collection of challenges from the season to prove they have what it takes, and then they “have them do eight minutes of burpie pushups, as many as they possibly can in eight minutes.”
“A really solid number is 100 in eight minutes,” he says, but “the bell curve is so tight this season, and the high numbers and the average is so high.” The players outdid themselves in these tryouts. “We’ve got one woman who got to 132 Burpie pushups in eight minutes,” he brags. But the show is also about life skills.
“That’s where we’re able to have competitors who are older competing against people who are younger, because sometimes you have somebody who’s super fit and super strong, who’s maybe 24, and they’re competing against [someone] in their 60s. They may not be as fit and as strong, but their life skills allow them to be competitive,” says the host. “Where do you see a 25-year-old going up against a 60-something-year-old” on reality TV, he asks. “So it’s about strength, endurance, agility, and life skills, but ultimately, the mental toughness.”
See who proves to be the toughest of the bunch in Tough as Nails Season 5.
Tough as Nails, Season 5 Premiere, Sunday, July 2, 8/7c, CBS (New Episodes, Sundays and Fridays, 8/7c)
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