Is Celebrity SAS really the hardest show on TV?

Yahoo

15 hours ago

Georgia Harrison says it's the hardest thing she's ever done, but Pete Wicks thinks Strictly is tougher - just how gruelling is the Channel 4 show?
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins gets off to a bumpy start for some of the 2025 series recruits, with two dropping out in the very first episode. The Channel 4 show is touted as one of the most gruelling challenges on TV...but how tough is it really?
The series sees celebrities take on a simulation of the notoriously brutal SAS selection process training, including physical feats and interrogation about their toughest life moments.
Some former contestants have called it the most difficult thing they've ever done, whilst others have claimed to have found Strictly Come Dancing much more taxing.
From trench foot and broken bones to medical withdrawals and mental pressure, there's no doubt that celebrity recruits should prepare themselves for the worst. But some have said the experience wasn't nearly as bad as expected - here's what the show's former stars have had to say about Celebrity SAS.
'It's just so, so tough'
It will come as no surprise to anyone who's watched Celebrity SAS that plenty of contestants have called the show one of the toughest things they've ever done, citing injuries, painful physical challenges and emotional difficulties as the worst parts.
Georgia Harrison
The former Love Islander was one of just two celebs to pass the 2024 series, but told The Sun she had underestimated how tough it would be: "I really did think the interrogation was going to be easy, because I would watch it on TV and think, 'If that was me, I wouldn't be shaking on the floor', but I really underestimated it...it's just so, so tough."
"It's awful, excruciatingly hard, degrading, demoralising and one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life," she added, claiming that she had "almost drowned" in one challenge.
Rachel Johnson
Harrison's castmates in the 2024 series also suffered a number of physical injuries and medical problems - Marnie Simpson withdrew after a wound from a recent surgery became infected from frequently getting soaked and not having the chance to dry out.
Meanwhile, Rachel Johnson shared: "I broke a rib. It was a lose-lose situation cos you're in terrible pain and you go to the doctor and you say, 'I can't walk or I definitely can't run. And I definitely can't carry my pack.' And the doctor says, 'Well, you know, there's nothing I can do about a broken rib. I'm not an X-ray machine. Do you want to leave?' So you just have to power on through."
Gareth Gates
Former Pop Idol contestant Gareth Gates was the only 2023 celebrity to pass the course, but confessed the stress of the experience had a huge effect on his stutter, telling Lorraine his speech had become "possibly the worst it has ever been".
He said of the final: "It was definitely the worst experience of my life. I haven't ever felt pain like it. When you are held in those stress positions for hours, it's torture...it really is unbearable. It was really horrendous."
Matt Hancock
Former health secretary Matt Hancock was a controversial finalist in 2023, but left the show with an unwelcome souvenir - trench foot. His fellow finalists had the same problem, with Danielle Lloyd admitting she was still having treatment for it months later.
Talking about the show, Hancock said: "Being on SAS was like nothing else I've ever experienced. It's one of the toughest physical and mental things I've ever done. It really opens your eyes and makes you look into yourself.
"After coming through the most challenging period as Health Secretary during the pandemic, I wanted to push my limits. It's safe to say the course tested my resilience!"
John Barrowman
The 2025 series might have seen some early drop-outs, but in 2024 John Barrowman set the record for quitting before even spending one night in camp.
Viewers saw him vomiting after one challenge, but Barrowman later told Lorraine that there were other issues at play: "As I kept going through that first day and they were saying things like 'you don't know who you are, you've got to discover who you are, you've got to find out who the real person is'. All the stuff they say to build you back up. I kept saying to myself, 'I know who I am, I know who John Barrowman is. I've made a mistake here,' and that was in the bit where we were having the walk through.
"Then when that lightbulb went off, then I started getting sick. I realised I'm in a situation here, I know who John Barrowman is, I'm starting to get sick, I need to make a conscious decision if I'm going to continue here. Then that was it, I just said I'm out, because I didn't think I could do it if I was sick."
'Strictly Come Dancing is far harder'
Not everybody found Celebrity SAS the worst experience of their lives - whether through bravado, blanking out the worst bits, or really being as tough as an SAS officer, these former contestants didn't seem to see the big deal.
Pete Wicks
Ex-Towie star Pete Wicks is something of an authority on Celebrity SAS, as the only recruit to have taken on the show twice. Wicks had to be medically withdrawn early on in 2022, but returned for the 2024 series and made it to episode six.
However, Wicks said that taking part in 2024's Strictly Come Dancing, where he reached the semi-final, was a much greater challenge.
Asked on Loose Women in October which of his TV contests had been the most demanding, Wicks said: "Strictly. It's the toughest, by far. I did SAS twice. This is harder. It's more intense and it's so far out of my comfort zone."
AJ Pritchard
Surprisingly, former Strictly pro dancer AJ Pritchard shares Wicks' opinion. He took part in 2022 alongside his brother Curtis, who was culled in episode four, but AJ went on to pass the final.
Asked whether Strictly or Celebrity SAS was tougher, he told PA news agency: "It's a really hard one. I think for me, SAS was so therapeutic and so beautiful and I feel like I achieved what I wanted.
"But Strictly itself, being a professional dancer you are a life coach, you are the driving force, you are the person that puts it all together and holds it together when it's going wrong so mentally and physically, Strictly is a hell of a lot longer at six months.
"And probably if SAS was for six months it'd be hard but Strictly for being six months is harder than SAS. I have to be open and honest about that. You are a life coach through and through – therapist, taxi man, everything else that comes along with it."
Jeff Brazier
Another celebrity who has opened up on a surprising show he found harder than Celebrity SAS is Jeff Brazier. The TV presenter took part in Celebrity Race Across the World with son Freddie in 2024, but despite viewers feeling envious of the once-in-a-lifetime trip from Brazil to Chile, Brazier claimed it was tougher than SAS training.
During the BBC travel series, he spoke about finding it difficult to let go and have fun as a dad, as well as allowing Freddie to make some of their decisions.
He told The Mirror: "I actually found it harder [than Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins]. People think I'm being silly by even suggesting that a travel show can be harder than being interrogated, hosed down and screamed at, but it's the five weeks of constant challenge and pressure."
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins will return to Channel 4 this summer.