S.A.S: WHO DARES WINS Which celebrities will meet the toughest challenge on TV?

JOINS THIS YEAR’S STARS ON TV’S ‘CELEBRITY SAS: WHO DARES WINS’

Heading into the Scottish Hebrides for a gruelling test of physical and mental strength is definitely not for the faint-hearted, but when Alexandra Burke was invited to sign up for the new series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, she didn’t even need to think twice.

“I have always wanted to do it,” says the singer about the Channel 4 series famed for pushing participants to their limit, testing their resilience and, ultimately, seeing how far they can bend before they break.

“There was a silver lining with lockdown. I got a break from work and then the opportunity came around to do SAS and I just jumped at the chance,” says the X Factor winner, who describes it as an opportunity to be selfish for the first time in her career.

“This was definitely the first time I had chosen to do something that wasn’t for anybody but myself, pushing myself to the extreme, seeing how far I could go, how broken I could get and pick myself back up again.”

LOW POINT

Among the well- known celebrities joining Alexandra for the epic adventure is TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson, who, despite not having watched the show out of fear, was keen to take part, as she had hit a low point in her life. In Instagram posts she often refers to struggles that she is going through. “Most people would go to a spa, but I decided that going away and being punished would be the solution. I was in a very low place when I went in, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing

or a bad thing, but it does make you rely on whatever you have left. If I had gone in there feeling amazing then I might not have really scratched the surface of what I’m capable of.

“I don’t like venturing out of my comfort zone. I’m not adventurous or competitive.

I’m the sort of antithesis of SAS. You learn a lot about yourself in that time.”

For Saira Khan, signing up to be one of the 12 SAS recruits came, in part, from a challenge set by her two children. “I watch the show and I sit there going: ‘Oh, I could do that!’ and the kids said:

‘ Well if you’re hard enough, Mum, go and have a go!’”

And after enduring the gruelling tasks, the former Loose Women panellist says:

“I had to go to the extreme to realise that I don’t need to keep proving myself. That was a huge lesson in my life.”

It’s safe to say that their journey makes compulsive viewing. But, for the celebrities, it is much more.

“For people to say that this is a reality TV show; it is not, it is far from it,” insists Alexandra, who would do it all over again “in a heartbeat”.

“Everyone who knows me has said: ‘ Alex, you’re a changed woman since SAS,’ and it’s a hundred per cent for the better.”

Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins returns to Channel 4 at 9pm on 29 August.

‘This was defifinitely the fifirst time I had chosen to do something that wasn’t for anybody but myself’

(From left to right) Saira Khan, Wes Nelson, Vicky Pattison, Aled Davies, Ulrika Jonsson, Jake Quickenden, Shanaze Reade, James Cracknell, Kerry Katona, Kieron Dyer, Ore Oduba and Alexandra Burke are putting themselves to the test in this year’s series Ulrika (left) had not watched the show before signing up for the challenge, while Saira (above) was an avid viewer alongside her children

Taking part in Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins is something Alexandra has long wanted to do, and says she would do it all over again “in a heartbeat”