Stephen Baldwin explains why he left “Special Forces” so early: 'These guys are going to kill me'

Stephen Baldwin's time on the Fox reality show Special Forces: World's Toughest Test was brief but memorable.

The Usual Suspects actor achieved physical feats that include leaping from a moving boat onto a helicopter hovering above and pulling himself into it. And yet, late in the debut episode, he withdrew from the competition, in which celebrities attempt brutally physical exercises led by former United States Special Forces operatives.

Related: See every celebrity who's failed Special Forces: World's Toughest Test season 3 so far

Baldwin told the on-set doctor that he had "smashed my meniscus" and his back had so many knots that he couldn't turn his head. He said he needed to stay healthy for upcoming projects.

"The knee was [hurt in] the helicopter. But my rotator cuff on my right side, I think was the push-ups," Baldwin exclusively tells Entertainment Weekly a day after the series debuted. "We did 150 push-ups the first day. I was like, These guys are going to kill me."

The actor, 58, was the oldest cast member in the third season of the series, which also features actress Denise Richards, former Bachelorette stars Trista Sutter and Ali Fedotowsky, podcaster and former child star Christy Carlson Romano, and many former professional athletes. But they will forge ahead without Baldwin, as well as Richards and Fedotowsky, both of whom had their own struggles on the series.

The father of Hailey Bieber says he wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway.

"Well, I know a little bit about what's coming up, and I am just telling you," he notes, "I mean, I wouldn't have made it past breakfast on day 2. I'm just telling you right now. Seriously. I don't know how everybody else did it. I don't know how ... male, female ... it doesn't matter. I mean, even in just the emotional psychology of it...it's beyond anything else on TV. This is really the scariest show out there to do."

Related: Denise Richards ruptured her implants jumping off a bridge on Special Forces: 'Still have to get them redone'

Those are strong words coming from Baldwin, who appeared on Celebrity Fear Factor in 2002 and likes to skydive and race motorcycles. He's even trained twice with a consultant for military movies such as Platoon.

Still, Baldwin says, the challenges on the show were even more difficult than they look to viewers.

"It was way worse," he says. "It was way worse."

He's sorry that he couldn't spend more time with the cast, who appeared to have become tight-knit from the beginning.

"I wanted to go out there with everybody, especially that Cam Newton," Baldwin says of the former NFL quarterback. "He's crazy and fun. But I can only do it so long as I could come back home and still be functional."

For one thing, he still has to finish this season of his podcast, One Bad Movie, in which he talks to guests such as Richards about the movies they've done that are considered bad. His other guests have included Eric Roberts and Bronson Pinchot.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

"I had to come back. I had more work," Baldwin explains. "I'm producing a movie in India later this year, and I'm also getting ready to produce two other projects, a game show and some other podcast."

See the celebrities who are still competing on Special Forces: World's Toughest Test on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. PT on Fox.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly