Entertainment

What time is SAS: Who Dares Wins on tonight and who is taking part?

SAS: Who Dares Wins is about to put another group of daring men and women through their paces in a brand new series of the programme that makes you feel shattered just watching it.

For those who aren’t familiar with it, SAS: Who Dares Wins sees five ex-Special Forces soldiers put ordinary people – and sometimes celebs – through the SAS’s unforgiving selection process.

Episode one gets off to a typically tough start as contestants log 40-pound backpacks up a hill among other physically demanding challenges.

Ant Middleton appears in the new run of episodes, having completed filming before he was axed earlier this year.

Sound up your street? Here’s this year’s line up and when it all kicks off tonight.

Who are the contestants on SAS: Who Dares Wins?

Justine

Age: 19

Profession: self-employed

She says: ‘As a civilian with no military background, I think you can be as prepared as you want physically but not mentally. My fitness definitely helped me a lot. I felt as though I was at my peak so, kind of what I expected physically but, again, mentally it was 100 times harder.

‘Also the fact that this year they had “switched everything up” kind of threw me off a bit to be honest so yes, it was more difficult than I expected.’

Lauren

Age: 31

Profession: Sport and Fitness Channel Manager

She says: ‘Being terrified of open water and the dark has previously stopped me from completing anything that might involve them.

‘Being on the show allowed me to come face to face with my irrational fears and realise that if i focus my mind and block out all the noise I don’t have the fear, I have the fight.’

Esther

Age: 28

Profession: Aesthetician/Dancer

She says: ‘The best part of this series was making lifelong friends who I can now count as a family. We have all developed such a bond that I will cherish forever. I am lucky to experience something that hardly anyone will experience.’

Rebekah

Age: 43

Profession: Solicitor and Personal Training Gym Owner

She says: ‘I was completely out of my comfort zone, but this was a once in a lifetime experience and an opportunity to meet truly inspirational and amazing people.

‘Overall, this experience gave me a light bulb moment in my own life by finally freeing me from over 35 years of abuse and control which I have allowed others to have over me.’

Reanne

Age: 29

Profession: Personal trainer/coach

She says: ‘My biggest fear is that I’ll never be loved, never be wanted romantically by someone because of my childhood trauma and this experience has certainly eradicated that for me.

‘This experience helped me realise that this world can be very cruel but it doesn’t mean that you let the moments of adversity define you.

‘If you harness your fears and commit to yourself, anything is possible. Without the adversity and without the challenges, we wouldn’t be as strong as we are both physically and mentally.’

Holly

Age: 32

Profession: Circus Artist/Project Manager

She says: ‘I turned 30 not long before signing up and as a transgender woman with mental health issues, who has been single her entire life, I guess I was really insecure in myself. Plus what woman wants to date a 6’4 trans muscle queen?

‘So one of the reasons I signed up was because with my mental health issues and feeling like I was going to be single for the rest of my life, having never had a relationship, I needed to do something to prove to myself that no matter what life throws at me I’m going to be okay. I also wanted to make my parents proud and prove to them that I’m strong mentally.’

Shireen

Age: 28

Profession: Entrepreneur, owns beauty clinics and a tech start up

She says: ‘I fall into the typical stereotype of a small young Muslim Pakistani girl who would never be able to get into SAS, let alone pass the fitness test.

‘I wanted to be the example for all the young Asian Muslim women who may one day want to join the SAS, to say if I can do it so can you!’

Tyler

Age: 28

Profession: Online fitness coach

She says: ‘I wanted to find out who and what Tyler is truly about. For years I felt I had lost touch with who I was, almost like I was lost in life and had no idea what my purpose in life was. I hit an all-time low and found a way of escaping my pain through the use of alcohol and drugs.

‘When I got myself into trouble with the police and received a prison sentence, I knew this wasn’t the life for me. I had to change NOW. No second chances, this was my time to take back control.’

Hannah

Age: 36

Profession: Lawyer

She says: ‘This was one of the most straightforward and simplest things I’ve ever done. Keep going or give up – no other concerns, no stress other than my kit, my team and myself.

‘I loved how it stripped away life’s daily baggage and stress. It wasn’t difficult but it was TOUGH.’

Phoebe

Age: 30

Profession: Telecoms account executive

She says: ‘[On the show] I’ve learnt that I shouldn’t give up on myself so easily and compare myself to others constantly. I’m a lot more capable and driven than I give myself credit for.

‘Whenever I don’t feel motivated, I think of being on the course and how much I pushed myself which helps me a great deal every day. Being chosen to be on the course was a huge confidence boost in its self.’

Ricky

Age: 40

Profession: Firefighter

He says: ‘SAS: Who Dares Wins gave me an opportunity to re-focus. When I say that, I mean in every way possible.

‘Having suffered with PTSD, it gave me an opportunity to show others who have suffered with the same, that PTSD doesn’t need to define who you are. It simply highlights a time in your life. There is a future after it. There is hope. There will be a time when happiness will exist, as long as you have faith and bravery and support.’

John

Age: 39

Profession: Tattooist

He says: ‘Who Dares Wins was the hardest thing I’ve done by far. I’ll never feel such emotional and physical pain again. I put myself in difficult situations because I know I’ll hate them but it’s like a battle with myself to do it. Once I’ve done it and tried my hardest then it feels like I’ve won.

‘I sat on my sofa in the past and watched SAS: Who Dares Wins and thought I could do that but it’s so tough and unless you have done it, you will never understand the torture of it.’

Sean

Age: 31

Profession: Sports teacher and Head of Year

He says: ‘Having done SAS: Who Dares Wins I now understand my purpose, and more importantly WHO I AM. It’s a difficult thing sometimes when you look in the mirror and don’t recognise yourself.

‘It took the brutality of the course and some time away from society for me to do that and can honestly say I’m a better man for it.’

Jake

Age: 28

Profession: Works in the Fitness Industry

He says: ‘I signed up because I felt very lost in life. After losing [YouTube star girlfriend] Emily Hartridge back in 2019, I fear sometimes that I have given up in life without her. I needed to prove to myself that I hadn’t.

‘I screamed down the cliff during the abseil task, but the fact I walked off that edge proved that I still had some fight left in me.’

DJ

SAS Who Dares Wins - DJ — DJ (Picture: Pete Dadds)

Age: 35

Profession: Salon owner

He says: ‘I think my biggest fear, only highlighted on the show which I didn’t know before, was confined spaces. The course helped me overcome that fear because I did it three times.

‘I didn’t necessarily like it and I may not have overcome that fear but it definitely made me face that fear.

‘I worry that I will look arrogant or cocky on the show. I remember moments on the show when I was a bit cocky. I just hope I come across well.’

Kieran

Age: 25

Profession: Dental engineer/Electrician

He says: ‘It was one of the best experiences of my life so far. Words won’t and can’t do it any justice. It has been life changing in many ways, knowing I have the strength of character and self-resilience to cope with whatever is thrown at me, has made me very proud of myself and my achievement.

‘The whole process is so realistic and it felt like we were being put through SAS selection. It forced me to push myself to my limit; both physically and mentally. I had to dig deep to find the strength I needed to carry on.’

Jamie

Age: 41

Profession: Business owner

He says: ‘I have always been intrigued by how I would fair in the most challenging environments. I do however have a huge fear of failure and lack of confidence in myself. This show, I knew would test me like nothing else and I watched all the previous series comparing myself to the other recruits.

‘Having gone through a few years of professional help to deal with childhood trauma, I felt strong enough to apply. The show marked a significant moment in my life in that my story needed to be told and my inclusion in the show validated this but it also brought some level of closure to a long and difficult period of my life.’

Alan

Age: 37

Profession: Personal trainer

He says: ‘I wanted to sign up because of a situation that happened to me in 2020 when I lost my right eye to cancer. I wanted to show how even though I lost my eye, I would never class myself as disabled and I could and still do the same things other people can do.

‘As I had not long undergone surgery on my eye, my training for the course was limited for a while but as time went on and my eye was healing, I started to run, circuit train and also weight lift in my own gym to help me at least prepare for whatever was about to come my way.’

Connor

Age: 30

Profession: Professional Irish dancer

He says: ‘I signed up to SAS: Who Dares Wins because I wanted to challenge the stereotypes attached to male dancers. As an Irish dancer, I’ve always been teased about being a wimp, girly and called gay because of my passion. I want to show that a male dancer can be masculine, powerful and tough and that dancers in general are as strong physically and mentally as anyone.

‘My cause was to try to show any young upcoming male dancers, or anyone who does a sport or discipline that isn’t perceived as “manly”, that you can be strong, tough and overcome obstacles that are put in front of you. That it doesn’t matter what other people think, if you have a passion then pursue that passion with all your strength and heart.’

Adam

Age: 34

Profession: PMP Recruitment warehouse supervisor / Part time commercial actor/model

He says: ‘It’s a privilege to take part on a course that normal civilians wouldn’t usually get the opportunity to do. I just wanted to show that you can do whatever you put your mind to.

‘I want to be a role model and show whatever wrong I have done in the past, I can move on from that to do better things in life. I shouldn’t be held back from my past life. I’m a product of that and not everyone knows of my past life, so wanted to share my story. It was a release for me.’