SAS: Who Dares Wins recruit reveals horrific child abuse suffered at hands of paedophile football coach

A recruit on SAS: Who Dares Wins revealed the horrifying child abuse he suffered as a young footballer on Sunday’s episode. 

Jamie, 40, opened up about his experiences after being called in for an interview with instructors Jason Fox and Mark ‘Billy’ Billingham.

Speaking about his background, Jamie said that he had been a young footballer with a promising career ahead of him.

In distressing scenes, Jamie revealed he was abused by a prolific peadophile, who was only outed in the press 25 years later.

Speaking about his playing career as a youth, he said: ‘My mind was too full of other things. At 11 I was a pretty good footballer. I was getting a lot of interest, and I ended up playing for my local team.

‘They had a particularly good coach. Unfortunately, the coach turned out to be a prolific paedophile. And for two plus years, I was a victim of that.’

He added: ‘I vehemently denied it due to embarrassment. I did that for 25 years, and it just f***** me up, really.’

Jamie spoke about his coach being named in the press, referencing the football sexual abuse scandal that was revealed in 2016. It saw former professional footballers waive their rights to anonymity and talk publicly about being abused by former coaches and scouts in the 1970s, 80s and 90s.

Jamie went on to say: ‘Another victim went to the national press. We had the same abuser. I tweeted him and said: “Good on your for being brave”. And he remembered me.

‘I had a 10 minute conversation. It was the first time I spoke to anyone who understands it. I thought, “If you’ve got the strength to go on national TV, I have to go ahead and stand with the rest of the boys who came out.” So I did.’

Jamie was commended for his bravery by the instructors, with Billy saying: ‘What you’ve gone through, to come on there and do what you’re doing, everybody’s going to be proud of you.’

Jason added: ‘I don’t see a victim. I see someone that’s extremely brave. What you’ve done takes courage.’

After leaving the interview room, Jamie reflected on life as a survivor, saying: ‘There are days that I wake up and it’s a challenge. It ingrains itself in everything.

‘I just wish I had had the strength of character to raise my hand and been the one that actually got him arrested. For somebody else had that strength and did it and saved the rest of us.’

SAS: Who Dares Wins airs on Sundays at 9pm on Channel 4.

MORE : SAS: Who Dares Wins viewers gutted as transgender contestant Holly quits show

MORE : ‘It’s 100 times worse in real life’: What’s it really like to go on SAS: Who Dares Wins?