Which is More Difficult: Boot Camp or 'Wipeout'?

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Wipeout
's obstacle course usually renders contestants bouncing and splashing every which way, leaving them out of breath as they complete the course. However, as the show welcomes members of the armed forces for its next episode, can they breeze through the course or will they struggle just like everyone else?


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ET visited the set of Wipeout and got the scoop from co-host Vanessa Lachey about how the troops stacked up in comparison to the average person when navigating the course.

"They all have been through boot camp at one point or another, and I say, 'What's the comparison [between 'Wipeout' and boot camp]' and nine times out of ten they're like, 'Boot camp was nothing compared to this,'' Lachey revealed. "Mom in Middle America can do this and these guys think it's harder than boot camp? Good for us, right?"

After observing and commentating on many obstacle runs, the 31-year-old mother-to-be said that it doesn't surprise her that the troops struggled with the course just as others do because there is no real categorically defined winner.


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"There's no template for who can do [the course] and who can't. It really is such a hit-or -miss," she said. "There's no rhyme or reason; there's no perfect run, there's no potion; there's no tips. It kind of is just if God is on your side that day and if the big balls happen to like you that day."

Lachey added that she thinks that the unpredictability of who will win is what makes the show interesting and successful.

"[The winner] can be a mom of five kids; it can be the military lieutenant commander...there's no real cookie-cutter person so it's very tangible," she evaluated. "Every thinks they can do it."


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ET also caught up some of the contestants immediately following their runs and got their thoughts on the rigor of the course. "If I had to do this every day, I don't think I'd be able to make it," said Marine Corps Sgt. Alex Ramirez.

While being at war requires much more mental fortitude than Wipeout, as Army Specialist Braiden Santos pointed out, the required physical strength and energy equals that of a boot camp training dill.

"This is like all of our training put into a few minutes. It's just hard," said helicopter pilot Johnny Huston.

Check out the full behind-the-scenes footage and interviews in the video above, and see the full armed-forces-themed episode of Wipeout this Thursday at 9 p.m. on ABC.