CBS’ original series, “Tough as Nails,” is set to return on July 2, and it will carry some local flavor as Delaware resident Kenji Ngo will compete in the show’s fifth season.

According to CBS, “Tough as Nails” celebrates “everyday Americans who consider the calluses on their hands a badge of honor.” The fifth season was filmed in Hamilton, Ontario, representing the first time the show has been filmed outside the United States. It will feature essential workers from both the United States and Canada who are “ready to test their strength, endurance, life skills, and mental toughness in challenges that take place in real-world scenarios,” CBS stated.

Ngo lived in Maine for 30 years before his family elected to permanently move to central Ohio in 2021 after an extended stay with their local family in the area during the COVID-19 pandemic. He currently takes care of his two children, which he said is “probably the toughest job I’ve ever done,” but had put together an extensive resume of various work experiences prior to electing to stay home with his children.

Ngo earned his first bit of work experience at just 14 years old, working in a bike shop, and he went on to work in the restaurant industry, bussing tables through high school. He later became a camp counselor, a mountain bike instructor, and more before heading to college. After school, he started his own computer technician shop and owned the business for 10 years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I have worked my whole life, and everything has led up to this point where the show was almost like it was meant to be,” he told The Gazette.

Ngo said he was inspired to apply for the show after watching the first season, which aired in 2020. With the encouragement of his wife, who told him he had the life skills and necessary assets to do well on the show, Ngo made the decision to pursue a spot. The two-year process between applying and the moment he found out he had been selected was filled with so much waiting that Ngo said he almost forgot about the application altogether as life continued to roll on and no word had been given on the state of his application.

Last January, Ngo finally received an email congratulating him on his application being accepted, a moment he said was surreal. Ngo said he believes he was chosen due to a combination of life skills he possesses and the path he took to acquire them.

“I came from nothing,” he said. “I was an immigrant from Vietnam. I came over at the age of 8 or so, and I knew no English at the beginning. I had a tough life growing up. For a long time, it was just my mom and I. I think that story was compelling. And I also think the physical training that I had put me above the rest when I was competing. And the life skills and confidence I had, that showed them that if I get picked, I can go all the way.”

After making one final decision to move forward with the next steps, a seven-month process began to prepare himself for the demands of the show.

“It was lots of physically-demanding training, a lot of bookwork I had to do in terms of getting myself prepared for jobs I might not have done because I’m one of those proper prior planning kind of guys,” he said. “I did everything I could to get myself ready for the show.”

From the time he left for Ontario until his return from filming, Ngo estimated the process spanned approximately six weeks. Although the rigors of competing on the show may have been demanding, being completely cut off from his family for an extended period of time proved to be the most difficult challenge to overcome for Ngo. “It was pretty much radio silence,” he said.

While he is not permitted to speak on the results of the show, Ngo found the entire process to be more than he could have imagined when he submitted his application.

“It was an amazing experience,” he said. “To be able to be a part of it was a blessing, in my opinion. I am humbled and honored to be chosen. It was the best experience a person can have in terms of competing on the biggest stage that you can ever compete in. To me, it was the Olympics for work skills.”

He added, “I have to say, it was a lot of jobs that I have not done before. But there were also a lot of jobs that I have done and were in my wheelhouse. I had to struggle through learning, adapting, and quickly overcoming some challenges that I’d never done before. It was very, very challenging.”

To get through those challenges, Ngo relied on the strength and backing of his family, which he said is every bit as excited as he is to see the show. “Knowing that when I was there, my wife and my family had my back, my kids were cheering me on, and they were going to be proud of me regardless, that got me through a lot of things that I thought I couldn’t do,” he said.

Ngo admitted he’s nervous to see himself on the TV screen, although he added that he’s excited for people to be able to hear his story. The telling of his story will include a big thank you to his mother, who is no longer with him, and all the mentors he’s had along the way who helped him reach opportunities he never could have imagined he’d see.

As for what he hopes people will take from hearing his story during the show, Ngo believes his life’s journey is one that should inspire confidence in anyone, regardless of the circumstances they may find themselves in.

“I hope they take away that you could be anywhere in your life, but if you put the time and the effort in, and you believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything in this life,” he said. “The moment that I began to dream of getting on the show, I committed myself to train for it … People out there, no matter what they’re doing or what life they have, if they just apply themselves and believe in themselves, they can do whatever they want to do.”

Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on Twitter @DillonDavis56.