England rugby star 'choked out' cast member in unaired TV footage as full story emerges

Wales Online

a day ago

England rugby star 'choked out' cast member in unaired TV footage as full story emerges
The dual-code England star was appearing on SAS Australia: Who Dares Wins in 2021
Sam Burgess pretends to choke out Phil Tufnell as he explains how he hijacked a bus
(Image: YouTube)
Former England dual-code rugby international Sam Burgess has revealed how he once hijacked a bus on a TV show, choking out the driver in unaired footage.
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Burgess, who played for England in the 2015 World Cup, was competing on the second series of SAS Australia: Who Dares Wins back in 2021 when he ended up commandeering a mini-bus. The show, which first aired in the UK in 2015 before an Australian version was made in 2020, pits contestants against a shortened training course designed to simulate a condensed version of the actual United Kingdom Special Forces selection course.
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However, in Burgess, producers clearly got more than they bargained for as he gave those involved in the show a taste of their own medicine after hijacking a bus following one challenge.
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Appearing on the Stick to Cricket podcast with Phil Tufnell, Sir Alastair Cook, David Lloyd and Michael Vaughan, Burgess dove into great detail - even using Tufnell as a makeshift driver to show how he manufactured his escape as he left the former cricketers in raptures.
"Yes, it's a true story," said Burgess when Vaughan asked if there was a story from the show involving a bus. "They took us away and it's a 15-day course.
"20 might start and it's just who can get to the end, basically. We get to day 12 and there's only four or five people left on the show.
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"Throughout the whole show, you're sleep deprived, food deprived, freezing cold. It's really hard graft. Each night, they might come in and talk to you before you go to bed. 'Listen, if you're captured, you should always try and escape, because the longer you're in captivity, the less chance of survival'. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
"This is all sinking in my subconscious. The next day, we do this assault course for four or five hours. We're freezing cold, wet through.
"Explosions go off and guns come in. They put hoods on you and tie you up. I felt like I was in a warzone. By this point, you feel like a zombie.
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"The training kicked in, what they've been teaching us over the last few weeks. I'm in a stressed position against the fence, with this woman kicking me in the shins. I'm thinking 'what is going on here'.
"After about two hours in captivity, they've thrown us in a vehicle and are transporting us to another destination. They also said that on transportation is where you've got a great chance to escape, because it's generally someone low down the food chain - that's where you should attempt to escape.
"So I've gone here's my chance. I've got a hood on and zip ties on my wrist. I'm so fired up because of that woman kicking me in the shins, I've popped the wrist straps.
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"We're on a bus that's moving. We're told we're on there with armed guys with guns so do not f*****g move.
"So I've peeked through my hood and I see the other contestants. There's one guy driving, there's a camera man and one other guy. I think there's no guns on here.
"I can take them. We're on a bit of a freeway. We're going about 100 km/h. I charge the bus and I get the guy at the front. I'm dishing him up.
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"It's no show in my head. I was convinced I was in Afghanistan. I was there in my head. This guy had an earpiece on but I ripped out his comms and get him under control.
"I free one of my fellow contestants, John Steffensen, who is a sprinter."
Burgess, who won the NRL title with the South Sydney Rabbitohs in 2014, then used Tufnell to show what he did to the bus driver. The panel were left stunned by Burgess, who continued his story.
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"I say 'don't you f*****g move'," said Burgess, stood behind the former England spinner. "I'm choking him and I say pull the van over now.
"He's not saying a word. I start tugging the wheel and everyone's screaming. This guy didn't break character.
"I say I'll put you to sleep. I say to John I'm going to choke him out. Handbrake on, keys out, he's out the vehicle as well as the other guy. I get in the front seat. The cameraman looks at me and I say you can get out as well."
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Ultimately, another contestant - former Australian athlete Jana Pittman - convinced Burgess to snap out of it, but not before he'd tried to find some food after nearly two weeks of brutal training.
"I've then got the mini-bus, me and four other contestants," he continued. "I was starving.
"I thought I'd go to KFC. But I had no money. I'm driving down the road, don't know where to go, but I'm free. I thought I'd completed the show.
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"I'm driving around and this vehicle comes towards us. It's definitely from the show. I took it on. They swerved off. I wanted to win.
"There's a woman still on the show, Jana Pittman, amazing athlete. She said to me 'you've taken it a bit too far'. I came back into normal life.
"I drove past a pub so I pulled in there. Within about 15 minutes, we were surrounded by six cars. Ant Middleton came back on the bus and they absolutely flogged us for about 12 hours.
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"We lost two contestants that night. They never aired any part of that show because we weren't insured. None of it has been aired.
"They loved it, though. They reckon it's the best escape story they've ever had."