Monty Brinton/CBS 2020 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.(LOS ANGELES) — CBS has announced it has renewed the reality competition series Tough as Nails for a second season, a month after it debuted.

The Phil Keoghan-hosted show salutes everyday heroes, from fishermen to firefighters, by having them compete in a series of real-world physical, mental and skills challenges.

Keoghan tells ABC Audio that even though the show was conceived and shot before the COVID-19 pandemic brought home the importance of essential workers, Tough As Nails was conceived to celebrate the people that have always provided for us. The multiple-Emmy winning Amazing Race veteran explains the authenticity of the new series, and the contestants they choose, are key to the show’s success.

“You’re competing for real money,” says Keoghan.  “And believe me, these people understand the value of a dollar. Every single one of them, because they work really hard.”

Keoghan adds, “They’re competing on real job sites. We haven’t…built sets, or it’s not an obstacle course or anything like that. It’s it’s real job sites. So we go to farms and we go to factories, we go to a pick-a-part. They are competing in real job sites, doing real jobs, building fences. And that’s to me what has gives the show its authenticity.”  

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.