TVGUIDE HOT AND BOTHERED

In scorching desert heat, a group of famous faces prepare for the worst the Celebrity SAS team can throw at them

Sunday, 9pm, Channel 4

Forget the chilling winds of the Scottish Highlands, the latest batch of celebrities will be put through their paces over a considerably different terrain – a blisteringly hot Middle Eastern desert. Leaving their home comforts behind to tackle a series of gruelling challenges are 14 famous faces – actresses Maisie Smith, 21, and Jennifer Ellison, 39; TV personalities Calum Best, 41, Amber Gill, 25, and Ashley

Cain, 31; TOWIE’S Pete Wicks, 33, and Ferne Mccann, 32, dancers AJ and Curtis Pritchard, 27 and 26, Olympic legends Fatima Whitbread, 61, Dwain Chambers, 44, Jade Jones, 29, and Jonathan Broom-edwards, 34, as well as boxing champion Shannon Courtenay, 29.

The SAS team is led by chief instructor Rudy Reyes, helped by directing staff Foxy (Jason

Fox), Billy (Mark Billingham) and Remi Adeleke.

We catch up with some of this year’s recruits…

MAISIE SMITH

“I like pushing myself out of my comfort zone and seeing how strong I can be, physically and mentally, and challenging myself. I wanted to be that empowering woman that could go out there and say, ‘I’m pushing myself to the limit.’”

PETE WICKS

“I’m fortunate to have a very pampered life, so to get the chance to test what you’re truly made of was an opportunity that I just couldn’t turn down.”

FATIMA WHITBREAD

“As a young woman I was adventurous, and having lived in a children’s home, I was tough and had a survival instinct. So doing this is a knock-on from those days. I’d have liked to have done it as a young Whitbread, but I’ve flown the flag for older women!”

JONATHAN BROOM-EDWARDS

“Life as a high jumper, it’s never really been about endurance, so to have that test… If I was going to ever do a TV show, I was gunning for this one.”

JENNIFER ELLISON

“You care what you look like at first, then you’ve got your head stuffed in sand and you’re weeing and pooing in the desert. You get stripped of everything. It takes you back to just you. All the things you thought mattered just go.”

DWAIN CHAMBERS

“I just wanted to see what it was like to come out of my comfort zone. I wanted to experience that. We were fully exposed. I was there to prove a point that there’s still life in us.”

JADE JONES

“After losing at the Olympics, I wanted to figure myself out. I wanted to see just how tough I really am because I think I’m a bit of a baby. But I had no idea how tough it really is. They make it look easy on TV but when you’re in it, it’s brutal.”

SHANNON COURTENAY

“People only know me in the ring, they don’t know what I’m really like, so I wanted to show the vulnerable side to me. If any show is going to break you down like that it’s this.”