Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Hell Week left me under the weather
Forecaster was forced to clean up own vomit
TV WEATHERMAN Deric Hartigan was forced to clean up his own vomit after a gruelling beach drill on RTE’s celebrity Hell Week.
The super-fit triathlete admitted it was the “most excruciating process” he’d ever been through as sleep deprivation and food rationing took their toll.
Deric told the Sunday Mirror: “I’m an avid outdoors adventurer and knew this experience would be hardcore but not to the level that we went through.
“The drill sergeants went hell for leather on us and there was absolutely no let up across the week. It literally was blood, sweat and tears.”
Ultimate Hell Week: The Professionals will see 18 celebs including rugby stars Peter Stringer and Andrew Trimble, influencer Niamh Cullen and author Rory O’Connor aka Rory’s Stories tested to the limit.
Deric revealed: “It was probably the most excruciating process I’ve ever been through. I thrived on the open water challenges but the sleep deprivation was pretty tough and the daily tasks were gruelling.
“We only got a couple of hours sleep across the week, limited food portions and were constantly in a state of heightened anxiety never knowing what was around the corner.
“The team beach challenges were relentless. The sergeants just kept pushing us to the max to try and break us as a team.
“I vomited, I cried... the sergeants made me and Andrew clean up our sick off the beach and stuff it in our pockets.
“Not our finest TV moment. It’s pretty
We only got a couple hours sleep across the week DERIC HARTIGAN YESTERDAY
raw and real.” Deric never told any of his Virgin Media colleagues he was doing the RTE show until he had finished filming.
And he said the experience taught him he is “a tough cookie in a tight squeeze when my back is to the wall” though “once is enough”.
He added: “I was blown away by all the girls. They showed such strength and resilience. I was the second oldest in there after Peter Stringer so I thought some of the younger ones would fold early but they didn’t. Laura and Niamh are probably the grittiest girls I know and you wouldn’t think it to look at them.”
Meanwhile, Rory told how attempting courses designed by former members of the Irish Army Ranger Wing left nowhere to hide. He said: “There were Alsatian dogs chasing us, we were all stripped down to our boxers, the girls in their knickers and bra.
“There was one moment with a candidate and I’ll never forget looking at her in all her glory with snot over her face and her hair everywhere and sand in her eyes.
“This is meant to be a model – it was so good to see that kind of rawness and I think young girls and women will take a lot of encouragement from how well they performed.”
Ultimate Hell Week: The Professionals airs on RTE One on September 8 at 9.30pm.