Special Forces’ Oliver Hudson Opens Up About Self Esteem Issues After Living in Famous Family’s Shadow (Exclusive)

Oliver Hudson got brutally honest on Special Forces about how living in his famous family’s shadow affected his own self worth.

“I’ve been successful in what I do but I see something and when it gets too big, I just quit,” Oliver, 50, whose mom is Goldie Hawn and sister is Kate Hudson, shared in Us‘ exclusive clip from the Thursday, October 1, episode of Fox’s Special Forces.

Oliver was asked by the Directing Staff where his issues came from.

“Probably [a] lack of self esteem in certain areas of my life,” he noted. “You obviously know who my family is, right? My sister hit huge quickly and that was her path. And I have learned to accept my path.”

Directing Staff Jason “Foxy” Fox questioned whether Oliver had an “insecurity,” to which he replied, “I don’t think it’s competitive. I think it’s comparison. This is the thing about me, too. I care too much about what people think.”

Foxy had words of advice for Oliver.

“What I’m understanding is the thing that has had the big impact on you, it’s stopping you from pushing yourself,” he told Oliver. “You’ve proven to yourself today that you can do something you didn’t think you could do.”

Special Forces, which premiered in 2023, puts celebrities through harsh training based on actual military selection processes. The cast faces intense physical and mental challenges designed to push them to their limits.

In Thursday’s episode, the recruits work together to “retrieve a supply drop while dangling from a ladder three hundred feet above the jungle canopy,” teased the official synopsis.

“Next, they must navigate a grueling obstacle course through the dense jungle to test their mental and physical stamina,” the description continued.

In addition to Oliver, Special Forces follows recruits Matt Barnes, Alycia Baumgardner, Candace Cameron Bure, David Charvet, Brandi Glanville, Collin Gosselin, LeSean McCoy, Maxim Naumov, Ruby Rose, George Santos, Hannah Stocking, Breana Tiesi, Alexia Umansky and Mauricio Umansky.

Oliver previously spoke with Us about his outlook on himself and his future.

“We’re always evolving and I am so interested in the human condition and especially my own,” he shared in December 2025. “[I’m] trying to be better, trying to strive, trying not to placate, trying to put myself out there and not worry about what people think.”

Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test season 5 airs on Fox Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.