Jovon “Q” Quarles, a member of the directing staff on Fox’s “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test,” said disgraced New York representative George Santos reminded him of “Vanderpump Rules” alum Tom Sandoval.
The former NAVY SEAL spoke exclusively to Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” about Santos — who served prison time after being convicted of federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft — and his stint on the Fox show’s fifth season.
“He reminds me of Tom Sandoval, where, ‘Nothing I’ve done was wrong. Nothing I did was wrong,’ and then [they] point the finger at the other person and say that what [that person] did was wrong,” Quarles told us.
“They don’t hold themselves accountable.”
Sandoval infamously competed on the show’s second season shortly after his months-long affair with Rachel “Raquel” Leviss was exposed in 2023, ending his nine-year relationship with Ariana Madix.
Quarles, who served 15 years as a NAVY SEAL, has been a part of the “Special Forces” directing staff since Season 2. He, along with three other former military operatives, run the rigorous course that a new group of celebrities and athletes attempt to complete each season.
Quarles told us that he was aware of Santos’ criminal history, which included embezzling funds from campaign donors to pay for personal luxuries, including Botox and spa days, as well as making false claims about his education, employment history and heritage.
Santos was sentenced to more than seven years in prison, but only served three months before President Donald Trump commuted his sentence and he was released.
“There was no bit of me that was going to be light with him at all,” Quarles said. “I wanted to make sure he understood what we deal with, as men and women in the Special Forces, and what it’s like.”
As someone who has been deployed multiple times with the military, Quarles said he took Santos’ history of “fraud” and “scandals” to heart, noting that elected politicians are supposed to tell the “truth” and have the “backs” of their military personnel.
“We’re supposed to trust you?” Quarles — who expressed his hope to see more politicians try their hands at future seasons — wondered. “And then you send us out here to go to war to die for stuff that you are lying about for the most part.”
“I took it personally, so I really wanted to challenge him and really give him a taste of what it’s like to understand that, ‘Hey, you now don’t have any control.’”
While the DS did not take it easy on Santos, Quarles did get a good laugh out of watching the convicted fraudster’s many failed attempts at pulling himself out of the lake water and onto the dock in the Season 5 premiere episode.
“Seeing Santos flop back in was like seeing a dead sea lion just kind of roll over and fall back [into] the water,” Quarles chuckled. “It was the funniest thing.”
“Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test” airs on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Fox, with new episodes available to stream the next day on Hulu.
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