The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills stars Mauricio Umansky and his daughter, Alexia Umansky, are the first father-daughter duo to tackle Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test. Season 5 of the hit Fox series took the Umanskys and a group of other celebrities—including Candace Cameron Bure, Colin Gosselin, Ruby Rose, George Santos, and more—to the jungles of Malaysia to test their mettle during a grueling program designed by the directing staff (DS) of Rudy Reyes, Mark “Billy” Billingham, Jason “Foxy” Fox, and Jovon “Q” Quarles.

However, these veteran operators were not as intimidating as the Umansky family’s beloved matriarch, Kyle Richards. When Richards heard that her estranged husband was going off to the other side of the world to compete in Special Forces, Mauricio remembers that she said, ‘That’s super dangerous. Be careful,’” When Richards learned that their daughter would be joining him on the course, Alexia recalls that she at first just gave me words of affirmation.” But her tune changed when she called Mauricio back separately. She had a total freak-out,” reported Mauricio.

As CEO/founder of the global luxury real estate firm The Agency, Maurico admitted he wasn’t upfront with most of his team about why he was going to be offline for a week or so. “We weren’t telling them what we were doing,” said Maurico. Once they learned where the Umanskys were up toMaurico admits that his colleagues “thought we were a little bit crazy, but they were supportive.” As a real estate agent and marketing specialist at The Agency, Alexia knew her team members “were going to have [her] back.” “It was nice to have a support system that I could rely on so I could go off and do some crazy adventures,” said Alexia.

The Umanskys stopped by the Decider studio to discuss the series, dish on their fellow recruits, and reveal what it was really like to live in those barracks.

DECIDER: It’s so exciting to see you both on Special Forces this season. Did you two get the offer to be on the show together or separately? How did this come to be?

ALEXIA UMANSKY: We got the call separately. He got the call first. We all thought he was crazy. I supported him, but we definitely thought he was crazy. I did not expect to get the call. But it was a pretty easy yes once I did.

MAURICIO UMANSKY: All of that is 100% accurate. I got the call first, and then she got it second. I called you even before you got the call because I wanted to sell you on it.

AU: No, you didn’t.

MU: Yeah, I did.

AU: No, you didn’t!

MU: Yes, I did.

AU: No, you didn’t.

MU: Whatever [laughs].

Mauricio, what did your colleagues and clients from The Agency think of you heading off to compete on the show?

MU: Well, we weren’t telling them what we were doing, right? One of my partners actually posted last Thursday when the show premiered: “My partner told me he was going away for a week. Little did I know this is what he was gonna go do.” I did have to tell some people. I had to tell my CFO and my president that I was going to be offline. They all thought we were a little bit crazy, but they were supportive.

Alexia, were you hesitant to take time off from your budding real estate career to go on the show?

AU: I work with a whole team of amazing people. We all help each other. I knew they were going to have my back. It was nice to have a support system that I could rely on so I could go off and do some crazy adventures.

How did you two tell Kyle Richards that you were going to compete on the show together? Was she comforted that you would be together throughout this process?

MU: She thought I was out of my mind. She’s like, “That’s super dangerous. Be careful.” After we called her to tell her that Alexia was also going on the show, she called me back separately and had a total freak-out.

AU: She was honestly very supportive of me. She was like, “Well, I can’t tell you what to do,” but then she just gave me words of affirmation. But yeah, my dad definitely got a little more of an earful.

MU: I gotta call your mom and ask her, but I think I told her to be supportive of you. I said, “Don’t get any negative thoughts into her mind.” I’m pretty sure I told her that.

AU: Yeah, she was supportive.

MU: Yeah, she was definitely not happy about her being in that much danger.

Teresa and Gia Giudice competed together previously on Special Forces Season 4, and Gia won the show. Did either of you reach out to them to get advice before heading to Malaysia?

AU: Yes, I did reach out to Gia, and my mom reached out to Teresa to ask, “What’s it really like? Is it going to be okay?” Teresa made my mom feel a lot better. When I spoke to Gia, she definitely made me feel better, especially because she finished the course. She was just so calming and so grounding. I just felt —through the phone—a little hug from her. I was like, “Okay, it’s gonna be okay.”

Your fellow The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Brandi Glanville was among the recruits. Alexia, what were your reactions when you heard her trying to flirt with Billy Billingham?

AU: [Laughs] I was way on the other side. I don’t think I heard that part. Seeing it on the show, not gonna lie, definitely made me giggle. I was like, “That’s crazy work.” And you know what? Good for her. Shoot your shot, do what you need to do, soften them up a little. Didn’t work, but she tried.

She was clearly having a tough time, even before the helicopter challenge. Mauricio, were you able to offer her any support, or was it all just too hectic?

MU: We never got a chance to really chat. The first time I saw her was at the mansion when we were all together, and I said hi. We chatted for one second. I thought I was going to have more time to talk with her, but we were in different helicopters. We jumped from completely different sides and spots. It went real fast. She got hurt quickly.

The cast of Special Forces Season 5 is stacked. Were you excited to see anyone in particular? Who did you end up bonding with the most?

AU: It’s so hard to say who we bonded with the most because our group was so great. Honestly, everyone was so sweet.

MU: Yeah.

AU: We all just clicked so much through trauma bonding. Everyone had their important part to play. There was Oliver [Hudson] and Hannah [Stocking] making us laugh every day. Bre [Tiesi] was the voice of reason, kind of being like, “We’re all crazy doing this. What are we doing?”

MU: I mean, I wouldn’t call her the voice of reason, but she was definitely a voice [laughs].

AU: She was saying all the things that we were all thinking. It was like a little bit of a relief for me.

MU: Great comedic [relief], yeah.

AU: And then there was Max [Naumov] who was so driven. Max and Alycia [Baumgardner] both had this drive to push us to keep going. David Charvet would look me in the eye every day and be like, “You’re not going to quit, are you?” Everyone is equally meaningful to me..

MU: For me, I think I definitely bonded with the guys: David [Charvet] and Oliver Hudson who was great. David Charvet and I went to junior high together. It was great to see him. It was great to hang out with Matt Barnes. For the girls, if I were to pick who I bonded with most—obviously other than my gorgeous daughter—I would have to say Bre because of our real estate [connections]. Hannah [Stocking] and I have mutual friends, so I bonded with her as well.

Another recruit who has a really tough time in the first episode is George Santos.

MU: Yeah, he does [laughs].

Given his past behavior and crimes, did you find it hard to find compassion for him? Or were you sympathetic to his struggles?

AU: To be honest, I didn’t know who he was going into it. Did you know who he was? You probably did.

MU: I knew who he was, and you know, karma is a bitch. He had a little bit of that coming to him. I mean, he knows that. He obviously is a controversial human being. It’s never a good thing to lie, and he paid for that. He paid for that by going to prison, right? Though, he’s someone who can make fun of himself, which I think is great. Watching his struggles on the show was just great comedy, and I’m excited for Episode 2. I can’t wait to see it. We might have been there, but you have tunnel vision through the experience. You can’t really see outside yourself. It was hot and humid. We were wet 24/7. I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds. I had a ton of fun with Episode 1. [Turns to AU] Did you?

AU: Well, “fun” is an interesting word…

MU: No, not being there. Watching the show on TV.

AU: Oh, watching! [Laughs] Yes, I had a great time watching.

That trek through the jungle to base camp looked horrifying.

MU: It was [laughs].

How long did it take to walk there from the water?

MU: Oof, I don’t know. It took a long time. We didn’t have watches. It was muddy; it was swampy. They told us, “Don’t touch any white trees because they are poisonous.” Every tree looked white to me! I didn’t touch anything during that treacherous walk. It was not easy.

AU: It was definitely long. It was hard to tell how much time passed in any situation. I do remember thinking the mud was so thick that my shoe was going to be suctioned off at any point. You can’t just reach down and tie your shoe or else a DS is going to yell at you.

What was the most difficult part about being in the barracks? Because every part of this looks like a nightmare.

MU: The whole environment of the barracks was just incredibly difficult. It’s not the most sanitary thing in the world. We were sleeping on stained cots. It was not pretty. Do you remember when it was raining and pouring inside the barracks?

AU: Oh my God, it had a metal roof, so it was so loud! The bathrooms were buckets. We were given just one bar of soap for our face, our hair, and our body. It was nasty. There was no sunblock. We all thought that there were bed bugs because everybody had these mystery rashes. We had no idea what was going on.

MU: There were mosquitoes and scorpions. On the first day, we saw a king cobra, right?

AU: Yeah.

MU: It was a lot. The barracks were a whole other ballgame.

Mauricio, how proud are you of Alexia for agreeing to do Special Forces with you and for challenging herself in this way?

MU: I’m so proud of her. It was the best experience of my life. As a father, to be able to go through something like this with your daughter was incredible. We got to know each other so much better and really support each other. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. I would have paid FOX to go on this thing. If they only knew how to negotiate, they would have gotten money out of me [Laughs]!

Alexia, you say you want people to know you have grit and strength and courage. Do you feel that you proved that to yourself and the world by the end of your journey on Special Forces?

AU: Yes, I definitely feel like I proved to myself that I have a lot more power in me than I anticipated. You think you’re brave, but how many times in your life have you really challenged yourself to find that out? I’m not a thrill seeker. I’m not an adrenaline junkie. I don’t do risky things. Doing them and actually seeing the results was very gratifying. I was also excited to show other people what I have, too.

What can you tease about what we’ll see from both of you as the season goes on?

MU: You’re gonna see some really fun stuff. You’re gonna see some emotions; you’re going to see some true grit. It’s a great environment from a cinematic perspective: the jungle, the greenery, the swamp, the stunning water . You don’t see the heat and the humidity, but weexperienced them. You can see it in our faces, but it’s beautiful. I’m just so excited to watch every single episode.