'Tough as Nails' Minnesota firefighter to compete in CBS reality TV competition

Two years ago, Minneapolis firefighter Akeela Al-Hameed responded to a call about a car fire. After helping put out the flames, she started to remove her gear.

"Look at her!" called a woman behind her. "See, you could be just like her!"

Al-Hameed saw a group of young Black girls standing nearby.

"When I turned around, this little girl's eyes were so big and the smile was so bright," Al-Hameed said. "That stuck with me."

Though she doesn't remember seeing any Black women firefighters when she was a teenager in south Minneapolis, that didn't stop her from becoming one. In fact, being the first or the only hasn't stopped her from doing almost anything she has set her mind to.

Al-Hameed is a fighter in every facet of her life. She's competed in mixed martial arts bouts around the Twin Cities since 2016 and has a black belt in jujitsu, an accomplishment she said was a first for Black women in Minnesota. In 2021, she earned the title of open class champion at the Twin Cities Open, hosted by the International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation.

"I came up out of the mud," she said. "I came from nothing and built my life up. I'm just driven and I don't take no for an answer. I'm willing to work, I'm not afraid to get dirty."

That attitude will certainly come in handy when she appears on Season 5 of the reality TV competition "Tough as Nails," which starts July 2 on CBS. The show puts 12 workers from the U.S. and Canada through intense physical competitions, where they have a chance to earn team and individual prizes.

The 34-year-old graduate of Minneapolis Washburn High School radiates unvarnished confidence and candor.

She takes great inspiration from the women who have been in her life: her great-grandmother, her mother and her wife. The three words she thinks her friends and family would use to describe her are: goal-driven, strong-headed and caring.

Before her family moved to the Twin Cities, Al-Hameed, who spent eight years as a reserve in the U.S. Army, lived on a farm near Fort Dodge, Iowa. Aside from the fields of Iowa, Al-Hameed got her pluck from her extended family. Her father has 15 siblings, most of whom have kids of their own.

"When you've got so many cousins, the competitive edge is ingrained early," she said.

This summer, she'll get to show off her fighter's spirit on national television. The grand prize at the end of the season of "Tough as Nails" is $200,000 and a new pickup truck.

The series is hosted by Phil Keoghan, known for his role as the host of "The Amazing Race" since its American debut in 2001.

Al-Hameed said she hopes her brazen personality and comfort with physically demanding labor will set her apart from other contestants. And, of course, she wants to win the competition, but not just to prove that she can.

She wants to be a positive image for her community, for Minneapolis and for firefighters everywhere.

"I think I represent first responders in general — EMTs, paramedics, firefighters," she said, and then she added, "I just represent the average person, somebody who's willing to go out there and do what it takes."