
Brody Jenner, Linda Thompson. Amy Sussman/Getty Images
When Brody Jenner signed up for Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, Linda Thompson didn’t exactly jump for joy.
Instead, she went on bended knee and started praying that her son would make it home — in one piece — after competing in Fox’s reality show.
“I had an altar in my house with his photos and all these religious candles,” Thompson, 74, exclusively shared with Us Weekly at Cure Addiction Now’s inaugural fundraising evening on February 24. “I prayed every day. I lit candles every day. ‘Please God, let him come home.’”
While appearing in Special Forces, celebrities take on demanding training led by an elite team of ex-military operatives. Jenner, 41, competed in season 3 and won the final test alongside Kayla Nicole.
Although Thompson was thrilled her son made it home safe, she was anxious to find out if he sustained any injuries during his tenure on the grueling show..
“They get hurt,” she explained at the Beverly Hills Hotel. “One of the guys got his nose smashed, and Carey Hart got hurt. They really get hurt. It’s no joke. I was really nervous about it. I knew he came home OK, but he was under NDA to not tell us exactly how he did.”

Thompson, who also shares son Brandon, 43, with Caitlyn Jenner, can now laugh about the days she begged Brody not to compete on the reality series.
“I said, ‘I will sell Apple stock and give you the money. Maybe you don’t do it.’ I was so nervous,” Thompson recalled. “I had seen a few of the shows, and it’s brutal. They put them through hell. It’s no joke. What we see is just a preview of what they go through, because they have to edit it down to just show just little snippets. He said it was brutal. He’d probably never do it again.”
Brody is now enjoying a simpler life in Malibu, California, with his fiancée Tia Blanco and their 19-month-old daughter Honey Raye.
The DJ allows Thompson plenty of time to enjoy grandma duty — when she’s not supporting causes like Nancy Davis’ nonprofit dedicated to funding innovative research for substance use disorder.
“It’s been really wonderful to see his transformation from LA, single guy to this Malibu dad,” Thompson said when gushing over Brody. “He’s just really settled down, and he met the perfect girl. Tia is just an exquisite human being. She’s so sweet. She’s pure. She’s got such a purity of soul, and she’s an amazing mom.”