Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins line-up as Rebecca Loos and Peru Two drug mule join show
Celebrities from the world of music, entertainment and sport have lined up to take part in the most gruelling phase of Special Forces selection whilst being filmed so millions of people can watch from the comfort of their sofas.
Channel 4 bosses have chosen a wide selection of stars from football, reality TV and even a woman made famous as one of the 'Peru Two' drug smugglers for Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. Michaella McCollum will line up alongside other star names like Rebecca Loos, who had a rumoured fling with David Beckham as well as former Premier League footballer Troy Deeney.
The Seventh series will see the action play out over eight one-hour episodes as the 14 celebrities are put through their paces by an elite team of ex-Special Forces soldiers - Chief Instructor Billy Billingham and his team of Directing Staff (DS) – Foxy (Jason Fox), Rudy Reyes and Chris Oliver. They take the famous faces to Wales, the home of the first phase of SAS Selection, where they will be stripped of their home comforts, families, agents and social media.
This year's course will be physically demanding and psychologically gruelling; all but a few who take part will fail, but the question is who will make it to the end and eventually pass?
Commenting on this year's group of celebrity recruits, Chief Instructor, Billy said: 'This course is not an attendance course, the bar is set high and will not waiver. Every recruit is a volunteer who chose to step into our arena. Although many will start, very few will finish and even less will pass. This is not for the weak minded or faint hearted.'
DS Foxy said: "The world is now a complex and dangerous place with threats coming from all angles. Because of that, we as a country need to be ready. We want to show these celebrity recruits what it takes to prepare for war, but do they have what it takes, far away from their privileged lives?'
DS Rudy commented: 'SAS: Who Dares Wins is brutal, revealing and a testament to human perseverance. Punishing elements, relentless pace, and standards that make war fighters proud to give these recruits a hard reset to find their true self. And in that truth, an insight into the human experience for us all.'
DS Chris added: 'This isn't just about physical strength; it's about mental resilience too. The recruits will be pushed to their limits, both individually and as a unit. Trust in each other will be our greatest asset. When the waves are high and the wind is howling, they will need to rely on the training and instincts if they are going to succeed.'
Adebayo 'The Beast' Akinfenwa
Age: 43
Famous for: Former Wycombe footballer
What they say about challenge: 'I've asked myself time and time again - am I built for the Special Forces? One of the reasons why I'm doing this is to find out. I would like to think that, put me in most situations, most environments, I'll be able to put my best foot forward, get out of my comfort zone, hit my responsibilities and do what I need to do! I think that's what I want to get out of taking part on this course.'
Troy Deeney
Age: 37
Famous for: Former Premier League footballer
What they say about challenge: 'I'm at a crossroads in my life, so I'm hoping the course can highlight the good and bad in me, and hopefully we'll see at the end that the good outweighs the bad. I'm sure the DS will get me irritated very quickly but they will also know how to nurture and to reshape and probably help me along the way.'
Conor Benn
Age: 28
Famous for: Boxer and son of boxing legend Nigel
What he says about the challenge: 'Although boxing is hard, I feel like this is going to be a completely different challenge, and I always want to challenge myself. I just want to see and experience the toughness and the grittiness you need to pass this course.'
Louie Spence
Age: 56
Famous for: Dancer, choreographer and television presenter
What they say about challenge: 'This course I hope can walk away feeling I've actually really achieved something here, that I've really pushed myself to the edge of my boundaries and put myself in a position which is beyond something I could have even imagined a year ago. This is a course that is really going to challenge me. This is different to anything I've ever been part of before. There's no fluff, there's no glitter, there's no getting myself out of a situation with a quick bit of wit. It's really refreshing for me to do something like this…and, hopefully, come out a much better person, both physically and mentally.'
Tasha Ghouri
Age: 26
Famous for: TV star
What Tasha says about challenge: 'I'm very excited to actually take on the course and just go for it, push myself and really challenge myself. But I also want to show people that having a disability makes you no less able - we can also push ourselves, and do crazy challenges if we put our mind to it.
'I really want to be able to actually walk away from the course feeling like I've accomplished what I wanted to do and I want to look back and think, wow, I did that, I'm proud of myself. I'll be doing this for the people who have doubted me. I want prove to them that they can't bring me down. I can fight my way to the end.'
Harry Clark
Age: 24
Famous for: Winner of season two of Traitors
What they say about challenge: 'Growing up, I'd watch people close to me be in the SAS, which always inspired me. This show was a different experience to what I had imagined but I always love a challenge and it proves you're always learning new things about yourself.'
Hannah Spearritt
Age: 44
Famous for: S Club 7 star
What they say about challenge: 'I hope to take out of this experience, strength. I want to feel stronger again, mentally and physically, because there's always improvement there. There are always dips that happen along the way with motherhood or whatever but I think when you just experience different stuff, it changes you. I have no idea what to expect, but I do know it will be an experience and it's something that I will have for life.
'However the experience goes, I am going to learn about myself. Maybe I'll find out I am a bit of a mess or I might find out that I'm stronger than I think I am…it's finding out things about yourself that you would never, ever find out. We live in this world where it's so easy to live in our comfort zone, so this is an opportunity to get outside of that and…for me anyway, growth and expansion is one of the most important things, and that is something that hopefully I can pass on to my kids.'
Rebecca Loos
Age: 48
Famous for: Yoga teacher who had a rumoured fling with David Beckham
What they say about challenge: 'I honestly don't know whether I am mentally strong enough but one of the reasons I want to do this course is because I want to find out whether I'm able to stick it through mentally. I think it's going to be really, really tough. This is by far the toughest thing I've ever done. But I want to do this course because it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to do an SAS training course. It's going to be really interesting to see how far I can go and how strong I'm able to keep myself.'
Bimini
Age:
Famous for: Drag queen and DJ
What they say about challenge: 'I want to do this just to prove to myself that I'm capable of anything I put my mind to. I want to prove to myself that I can do it. No glam, no red carpets, no magazine covers. This is literally just going to be me to my core and I am excited about it but I don't think the course is ready for Bimini.
'People in the UK love to debate gender like it's a concept, not a lived experience. It gets reduced to headlines and toilet talk. I'm doing this to remind them that behind every opinion is a human being. The course, the SAS and the Army have got a very masculine stereotype and I've got both elements of masculine and feminine and that's my superpower. Vulnerable, raw, and stronger than ever. This bleached rat tail is gonna f**k it up!'
Michaella McCollum
Age: 31
Famous for: One of the Peru Two drug mules
What they say about challenge: 'The level of resilience I learned from being in prison in Peru and knowing how important that mindset is, will definitely help get me through the course, so I'm going to need to use my mental strength to help me along the way. In Peru, I was completely stripped back to the rawest version of myself…and I know in this course, it will have a similar effect. I will get to see the real me again and I want to challenge myself to see how capable I am. I don't know if I'm physically fit enough to complete the course but I have good mental strength.'
Lucy Spraggan
Age: 34
Famous for: Singer and former X Factor contestant
What they say about challenge: 'I hope I have the mental grit to get to the end of the course. I have been through quite a lot in my life, and I've done a lot of work to navigate what that left behind, and I really hope that I can apply it to the course, and make it all the way to the end.
'I've always wanted to do this course, and what I love about this course is the sheer pressure it puts on a human being, that you will just not get anywhere else in life. And I've had pressure, I've had so many forms of pressure, nothing like this, so I really just genuinely want to see how far my brain can go.'
Adam Collard
Age: 29
Famous for: Fitness coach and Love Islander
What they say about challenge: 'Hopefully during the course, the DS will peel back a few layers because I'm stubborn as hell. And maybe I need to be broken down to then go and sort some stuff out.
'I'm doing it for the little boy who hated himself and couldn't do anything and was the last to get picked in everything. And from an emotional point of view, I'm hoping that this spits out a better person.
'I love a challenge. And I really think this course is exactly what I want to really tap into my fitness, the mental strength, the resilience, and see if I've got the grit to finish and go all the way.'
Lady Leshurr
Age: 37
Famous for: Rapper
What they say about challenge: 'I think this course is not only going to make me become the best version of myself, but it's going to make me the strongest I've ever been. It's going to make me realise so much about myself that I've kept in. It's going to push, motivate and inspire me. It's really going to make or break me. But regardless, it's going to teach me a lesson about myself that I can definitely work on.'
'Doing this course is going to make me regain my strength, my understanding, who I am as a person and just unpack all the trauma that is on my chest…I'm hoping to leave this course feeling empowered, feeling the strongest I've ever felt, a beast. I want to walk into the gym the next day, like I own this place.'
Chloe Burrows
Age: 29
What they say about challenge: 'On SAS: Who Dares Wins , everything is completely stripped back. You have absolutely nothing. And I want the course to kind of remind me of that, because I've got a bit lost in myself and the industry. I want to feel a little bit grounded. I want to get a sense of it. I want to push myself, and I want to get a sense of achievement. I want to feel proud of myself for whatever I put into it.
'I think the course is going to give me a bit of confidence. If I even achieve half of the course, then I can walk out and be like, yeah, guess what? I did that on my own. No makeup, no hot shower. I'm very capable…I would love to come out and just feel really pleased with myself and really confident in myself. I want to feel like I've tried my absolute hardest and that I had nothing left in the tank…I don't want to leave half-heartedly. If I leave, it's because I physically cannot do anymore, which is fair, but I just want to know that I've tried my hardest.'
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