In a powerful moment on Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, Barstool Sports personality Brianna Chickenfry LaPaglia opened up about her difficult past relationship, revealing she turned down a multi-million dollar offer from her ex, musician Zach Bryan, to keep her from speaking about their time together. Her decision to refuse the money and share her story has become a public stand for regaining personal control.
A Turning Point on Reality TV
During the October 9, 2025 episode of the Fox reality show, LaPaglia was seen speaking with the show’s Directing Staff about her reasons for enrolling in the demanding training course. She explained that she had a “really tough year” following a very public breakup and had lost sight of who she was.
LaPaglia told the instructors that her ex-boyfriend, a famous musician, had treated her poorly. She shared a specific and startling detail: near the end of their relationship, he had offered her $12.9 million. The condition was that she had to “sign away my voice.” When asked if the purpose was to silence her, LaPaglia confirmed, “He tried to.”
Reflecting on her decision in a confessional, LaPaglia said, “I just couldn’t let someone control how I feel and how I act anymore. In me not taking that money, I took control of myself back.” She added that people who followed her throughout the relationship watched her become a “shell of a human,” and she was determined to rebuild herself on her own terms. “I don’t want to give anyone power over me. I really want to take control, and if I make it, it’s because I did it,” she said.
The Backstory of a Public Relationship
LaPaglia and Zach Bryan’s relationship played out largely in the public eye. The two first connected in mid-2023 after Bryan sent her a direct message on Instagram. LaPaglia described it as a “very fast-moving relationship where I should have seen a lot of red flags, but I was blinded by a lot of things.” She told her fellow recruits on Special Forces that her ex “got famous on TikTok and thinks he’s God.”
The relationship ended in October 2024. In a later episode of her podcast, BFFs, LaPaglia provided more context, alleging that the past year had been the hardest of her life as she dealt with what she described as “abuse” from her former partner. She claimed that a “switch” in his behavior happened about four months into their relationship.
She shared on the podcast, “I went through literal narcissistic, emotional abuse for a year. And he made me believe everything was my fault. He isolated me from my whole entire life, he wouldn’t let me be who I wanted to be, he made me hate everything that I loved about myself.” She also stated that she still feels fear because of him.
The Physical Toll of a Difficult Period
The stress of the relationship took a visible physical toll on LaPaglia. In early 2025, she got candid with her followers on social media about her struggle with anxiety and extreme weight loss during that time. She revealed that at her lowest point, she weighed only 109 pounds, which was dangerously unhealthy for her 5’9″ frame.
She explained that she was struggling so hard with eating and anxiety that she had little to no appetite for about six months. She has since worked to regain her health, sharing a message about the importance of feeling healthy over looking a certain way. “Saddest part is, I remember everyone telling me how great and skinny I looked that night but I hadn’t eaten in two days,” she shared.
Finding Strength in the Struggle
LaPaglia’s choice to speak about her experiences, both on her podcast and now on national television, appears to be a core part of her healing process. By rejecting the substantial financial offer, she chose the power to tell her own story over a payment that would have required her silence.
Her appearance on Special Forces is a continuation of that effort to reclaim her confidence and identity. She stated on the show that the challenges became a way for her to regain control after losing direction in her personal life. She described how she used to be a “strong girl making videos for girls of what not to do, and who to stay away from, and how to be strong,” and is now on a path to rediscovering that part of herself.
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