Life’s a jungle for the stars of Celebrity SAS as the likes of Matt Hancock, Melinda Messenger and Gareth Gates take on brutal challenges in hit TV show

You’re surrounded by strangers, who become friends and confidants as the ruthless conditions take their toll. And to top it all off, every day you’re facing some of the most physically and mentally brutal challenges of your life.

That’s what the celebs taking part in the latest series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins had to face, all while being put through their paces by demanding military training Directing Staff, getting a taste of what it’s like to train for the SAS.

Taking part this series are: Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, singers Gareth Gates, Michelle Heaton and Siva Kaneswaran, TV Personality Danielle Lloyd, TV Presenter Melinda Messenger, ex-Premier League footballer Jermaine Pennant, former Welsh Rugby international Gareth Thomas, reality TV Stars James “Arg” Argent, Montana Brown, Teddy Soares and Amber Turner, comedian Zoe Lyons, actor Kirsty-Leigh Porter, GB Olympian Perri Shakes-Drayton, and Paralympic Gold Medallist Jon-Allan Butterworth MBE.

“I wanted to do it to push my limits, to test my limits,” says Hancock, 44, who also appeared on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here in 2022.

“I’d just come through a pretty tough period being the Health Secretary during the pandemic, so I wanted to test my physical limits.”

“I do love a challenge,” agrees Liberty X’s Heaton, 43.

“Pre, I suppose, getting sober, I was lucky enough to go on numerous expeditions… and that all stopped when I was getting better, and Covid,” adds the singer, who has battled alcoholism and drug addiction.

“So I suppose I’ve been getting itchy feet. And the year previous, I really wanted to do it… it was just too soon into recovery for me to be considered. So it was just the right time for everything, really.”

Heaton wasn’t the only celeb to have confronted some personal battles before taking on the SAS challenge: Towie’s Arg has faced his own battle with addiction.

“I think I was in a very good place going into the show,” says the 35-year-old reality star.

“Not long before the show had started, all my weight that I wanted to lose, I’d lost. I had quite a good time with sobriety. Work was going well. I was feeling happy and healthy.”

There’s no denying that SAS: Who Dares Wins is a real test of endurance, mentally and physically.

“Surroundings, where I was living, the food – it was difficult to take on,” says former Arsenal and Liverpool footballer Pennant, 40.

“Every time I had a mouth full of rice I started to gag. But… you’re not on your own, everybody else is going through that as well. You just have to keep going.”

“The jungle terrain… it was really tough,” says Corrie, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks star Porter, 34.

“Making our way through on our stomachs not knowing what was beneath us, not even knowing when the ground beneath us was actually going to turn into a swamp. We would literally drown, our heads would go under and then we would be back up again, it was just madness.”

There’s a huge team element to the challenge, where the celebs are held responsible for one another’s shortcomings but also have to lean on each other when times get tough.

However, some challenges saw the contestants pitted against each other: In the first episode, we see the celebrities having to fist fight one another, instructed not to hold back.

Matt Hancock was paired with Jermaine Pennant: “He’s a former England footballer and he’s no softy,” says the politician.

“At the same time, I was relieved that I wasn’t being paired with somebody even bigger. Or a woman. But I thought, this is a bad moment!

“It didn’t hurt nearly as much as I expected actually, being smacked in the face.”

The celebs also have to face mental conflict, particularly from the DS who put them through their paces.

“That was definitely hard for me,” says Gareth Gates, 38.

“There were times that my speech was at its worst when, either before a task or after a task, they’d be in your face… really drilling you,” says the Pop Idol star, who has a stammer.

“They pushed my buttons, especially early on,” says Hancock.

“And actually what they’re teaching you on the course is not to rise to it when they push your buttons. They push your buttons to get the rise, and then they show you the consequence of that. And so you learn not to!”

To get through the challenges, the celebrities really had to dig deep inside themselves, drawing on courage and strength they didn’t know they had.

“The thing I feared most was collapsing and not being able to carry on,” says Hancock.

“Having my rib broken was probably the closest I got (to quitting).

“But I was determined to keep going, so I just kept my mouth shut so I wasn’t medically discharged.”

Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins returns to Channel 4 on Tuesday, September 26 at 9.30pm, and continues every Sunday at 9pm from October 1.