SAS: Who Dares Wins recruit opens up about losing her mum to breast cancer as a child

SAS: Who Dares Wins recruit Justine Pellew-Harvey has opened up about losing her mum to breast cancer when she was 13 in Sunday’s emotional episode.

Jutine, who at 18-years-old is the youngest contestant in the series, spoke about dealing with grief with instructors Anthony ‘Staz’ Stazicker and Jason Fox.

‘I was brought up in Italy,’ the recruit said. ‘Then at 13, my mom passed away. And then that same year, we moved to Cornwall, that was a massive change, obviously.’

Staz also opened up about his experiences, revealing that he too lost his mum at a young age.

‘For me, losing my mum at 11, I wasn’t very emotional,’ he said. ‘I repressed everything. I didn’t deal with that emotion. And I see that look in your eyes. This reminds me of myself when I was your age.’

Justine added: ‘I did the same thing, and I think I’ve always had that gap. That’s why I joined cadets, because I wanted to feel like I belonged to something.’

‘That’s also why I kind of want to join the military. I want to be like you guys. I want to feel like I’m part of a family.’

Speaking later in the episode, Justin said: ‘My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was around 10. But she passed away when I was 13. 

‘I didn’t cry at the funeral. I literally held it in the whole day because I was just trying to get my head around the fact that I would never see her again.’

She added: ‘We didn’t really talk about my mom’s death at all. That’s how we coped with it.’

The episode saw Justine step up to lead a team through a series of challenging tasks, including carrying a boat down a hillside and capsizing it in freezing water. 

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

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