SAS: Who Dares Wins is a reality quasi-military training television programme broadcast by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom since 19 October 2015. It features civilians, and later celebrities, attempting to complete a modified version of SAS training. The financial success of the celebrity series led Channel 4 to drop the original civilian series after its 2023 season.
Format The show pits contestants against harsh environments all around the world, in a shortened training course designed to simulate a condensed version of the actual United Kingdom Special Forces selection course. The show's Directing Staff take the recruits through hostile and unforgiving warfare environments, while testing their mental and physical ability through a series of realistic training exercises. Each series ends with a simulated experience of being captured and interrogated, which is overseen by an anonymous former senior chief intelligence officer referred to as "the Umpire". This is sometimes followed by an additional stage.
Unlike many reality competition series, there are no formal elimination points. Instead, each contestant is given a numbered armband, which they can hand in to the DS to 'voluntarily withdraw' (VW) themselves if they feel they cannot continue. They can also be culled by the DS or be medically withdrawn.
History The fourth series, which aired in early 2019, allowed female recruits to take part for the first time, in line with the Ministry of Defence's announcement that women would now be able to serve in all areas of the UK military, including the Special Forces.
A celebrity version aired for the first time in 2019 in aid of Stand Up to Cancer. Chief instructor Ant Middleton said of the concept, ‘Celebrities go through their lives showing the public a front and face they want them to see but this process stripped all that away.’
After the eighth series of the civilian version concluded in 2023, the civilian version was shelved indefinitely to prioritise the celebrity version, which Channel 4 deemed a 'huge success'.
Cast The original Chief Instructor was Ant Middleton, an ex-United Kingdom Special Forces operator who served in the Special Boat Service. The other Directing Staff consisted of Jason 'Foxy' Fox, a former SBS operator; Mark 'Billy' Billingham, an ex-SAS Sergeant Major; and Matthew 'Ollie' Ollerton.
In 2021, Middleton was dismissed from the show over his 'personal conduct'. It was speculated that this was linked to Middleton's controversial tweets about the Black Lives Matter movement. Middleton subsequently claimed 'the woke patrol have kicked in to the point where we can't say anything, we can't be ourselves'.
In October 2021, former United States Recon Marine Rudy Reyes was announced as the series's new Chief Instructor. In 2023, the Directing Staff were joined by Chris Oliver, a former Royal Marine Mountain Leader and ex-Special Boat Service operator.
Other DS have included Melvyn Downes in 2021, who served in the SAS for 12 years and was the first DS member of colour, and Veteran Navy SEAL Senior Chief Remi Adeleke in 2022.
Name Position Civilian series Celebrity series 1 (2015) 2 (2016) 3 (2018) 4 (2019) 5 (2020) 6 (2021) 7 (2022) 8 (2023) 1 (2019) 2 (2020) 3 (2021) 4 (2022) 5 (2023) 6 (2024) 7 (2025) Jason "Foxy" Fox Directing Staff (1–) colspan="8" colspan="7" Mark "Billy" Billingham Directing Staff (2–7)Chief Instructor (8–) colspan="1" colspan="7" colspan="7" Remi Adeleke Directing Staff (7) colspan="6" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="3" colspan="1" colspan="3" Rudy Reyes Chief Instructor (7) Directing Staff (8–) colspan="6" colspan="2" colspan="3" colspan="4" Ant Middleton Chief Instructor (1–6) colspan="6" colspan="2" colspan="3" colspan="4" Matthew "Ollie" Ollerton Directing Staff (1–5) colspan="5" colspan="3" colspan="2" colspan="5" Colin Maclachlan Directing Staff (1) colspan="1" colspan="7" colspan="7" Jay Morton Directing Staff colspan="4" colspan="1" colspan="3" colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="5" Melvyn Downes Directing Staff (6) colspan="5" colspan="1" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="1" colspan="4" Anthony Stazicker Directing Staff colspan="5" colspan="1" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="1" colspan="4" Chris Oliver Directing Staff (8–) colspan="7" colspan="1" colspan="4" colspan="6"
Regular series + Series overview Series Start date End date Episodes Location Winners 1 19 October 2015 16 November 2015 5 Wales Freddie Iron and Ryan Roddy 2 17 October 2016 14 November 2016 5 Ecuador Moses Adeyemi 3 7 January 2018 4 February 2018 5 Morocco Jonathan Davis and Matt Sallis 4 6 January 2019 10 February 2019 6 Chile Mark Peart, Louise McCullough and Milo Mackin 5 5 January 2020 9 February 2020 6 Scotland James Priestley and Chris O 6 9 May 2021 14 June 2021 6 Scotland Connor Smyth and Kieran Lang 7 10 April 2022 15 May 2022 6 Jordan Shylla Duhaney and Paige Zima 8 23 January 2023 21 February 2023 6 Vietnam Grant, Hilary and Joshua
Celebrity series + Series overview Series Start date End date Episodes Location Winners 1 7 April 2019 5 May 2019 5 Chile Wayne Bridge 2 20 April 2020 25 May 2020 6 Scotland Lauren Steadman and DJ Locksmith 3 29 August 2021 3 October 2021 6 Scotland Alexandra Burke, Aled Davies and Wes Nelson 4 4 September 2022 16 October 2022 7 Jordan Calum Best, Ferne McCann, AJ Pritchard and Maisie Smith 5 26 September 2023 5 November 2023 7 Vietnam Gareth Gates 6 22 September 2024 14 October 2024 8 New Zealand Georgia Harrison and Lani Daniels 7 3 August 2025 25 August 2025 8 Wales Troy Deeney, Michaella McCollum and Lucy Spraggan 8 4 January 2026 26 January 2026 8 Morocco Emily Seebohm, Dani Dyer and Gabby Allen
Series 1 (2019) In April 2019, a special series in which all of the recruits were celebrities was aired as Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, for Stand Up to Cancer UK. Among the celebrity recruits were Victoria Pendleton, Ben Foden, Heather Fisher, AJ Odudu, Jeff Brazier, Wayne Bridge, Sam Thompson, Andrea McLean, Jeremy Irvine, Dev, Louise Mensch and Camilla Thurlow (Love Island). Unlike previous series, this celebrity version was filmed in the Andes Mountains in Chile.
Recruit Celebrity Known for Status (Episode number) 8 Wayne Bridge Former Premier League footballer (5) 11 AJ Odudu Television presenter (5) 3 Jeff Brazier Television presenter (5) 5 Victoria Pendleton Former Olympic track cyclist (5) 12 Sam Thompson Television & radio personality (5) 9 Ben Foden England rugby union player (5) 10 Heather Fisher Rugby union and rugby sevens player (5) 6 Jeremy Irvine Actor (5) 2 Dev BBC Radio 1 presenter (4) 7 Camilla Thurlow Love Island finalist & humanitarian worker (4) 4 Andrea McLean Former Loose Women panellist (2) 1 Louise Mensch Blogger, novelist & former Conservative MP (1)
Series 2 (2020) A second celebrity series began airing on Monday 20 April 2020. Among the celebrity recruits were: Katie Price, Joey Essex, Anthea Turner, Helen Skelton, Brendan Cole, John Fashanu, Nikki Sanderson, Jack Maynard (YouTube star), Lauren Steadman, Locksmith (DJ of Rudimental), Tony Bellew and Yasmin Evans. This series was filmed on the island of Raasay in Scotland.
Recruit Celebrity Known for Status (Episode number) 6 Locksmith DJ of Rudimental (6) 7 Lauren Steadman Paralympic athlete (6) 10 Helen Skelton Television presenter (6) 8 Nikki Sanderson Actress (6) 1 Joey Essex Former The Only Way Is Essex cast member (6) 11 Tony Bellew Former professional boxer (6) 2 Brendan Cole Former Strictly Come Dancing professional (4) 12 Yasmin Evans Radio & television presenter (3) 4 John Fashanu Former England footballer & television presenter (3) 9 Jack Maynard YouTube personality & DJ (2) 5 Anthea Turner Television presenter (2) 3 Katie Price Model, media & TV personality (2)
Series 3 (2021) A third celebrity series began airing on 29 August 2021. Among the celebrity recruits were: Ulrika Jonsson, Kerry Katona, Alexandra Burke, Wes Nelson, James Cracknell, Shanaze Reade, Ore Oduba, Aled Davies, Vicky Pattison, Saira Khan, Kieron Dyer and Jake Quickenden. The series was filmed on the island of Raasay in Scotland.
Recruit Celebrity Known for Status (Episode number) 7 Alexandra Burke Singer, songwriter & actress 8 Aled Davies Paralympic athlete 9 Wes Nelson Singer & television personality 2 Ore Oduba Television & radio presenter 6 James Cracknell Former Olympic rower 12 Kieron Dyer Former Premier League footballer 4 Jake Quickenden Singer & television personality 10 Shanaze Reade Former BMX racer 11 Vicky Pattison Television & media personality 5 Saira Khan Television & media personality 3 Ulrika Jonsson Television presenter 1 Kerry Katona Television & media personality
Series 4 (2022)
A fourth series began airing on 4 September 2022. Among the celebrity recruits were: Calum Best, Maisie Smith, Jonathan Broom-Edwards, Ashley Cain, Dwain Chambers, Shannon Courtenay, Jennifer Ellison, Jade Jones, Amber Gill, AJ Pritchard, Curtis Pritchard, Ferne McCann, Pete Wicks and Fatima Whitbread; she was 60 years old when the series was filmed and is the show's oldest recruit. The series was set in Wadi Rum Desert in Jordan and filmed in October 2021; the former set of French game show The Desert Forges was used as the base.
Recruit Celebrity Known for Status (Episode number) 8 AJ Pritchard Former Strictly Come Dancing professional 3 Calum Best Television personality 4 Ferne McCann Former The Only Way Is Essex cast member 12 Maisie Smith Former EastEnders actress 10 Jade Jones Olympic taekwondo athlete 14 Ashley Cain Footballer & television personality 11 Shannon Courtenay Professional boxer 6 Jonathan Broom-Edwards Paralympic athlete 1 Jennifer Ellison Former Brookside actress 5 Fatima Whitbread Olympic javelin thrower 9 Curtis Pritchard Professional dancer & Love Island finalist 13 Dwain Chambers Olympic sprinter 2 Pete Wicks The Only Way Is Essex cast member 7 Amber Gill Love Island winner & author
Series 5 (2023)
The line-up for the fifth series was announced on 14 September 2023. The series was set in Thung Ui, Northern Vietnam and began airing on 26 September 2023. Among the celebrity recruits were: Danielle Lloyd, Michelle Heaton, Amber Turner, Melinda Messenger, Gareth Gates, Matt Hancock, Gareth Thomas, James Argent, Jermaine Pennant, Siva Kaneswaran, Jon-Allan Butterworth, Teddy Soares, Montana Brown, Kirsty-Leigh Porter, Perri Shakes-Drayton and Zoe Lyons.
Recruit Celebrity Known for Status (Episode number) 7 Gareth Gates Singer-songwriter & actor 11 Danielle Lloyd Model & television personality 1 Matt Hancock Conservative Party politician 6 Perri Shakes-Drayton Olympic athlete 3 Teddy Soares Love Island contestant 10 Amber Turner The Only Way Is Essex cast member 13 Zoe Lyons Comedian 2 James Argent Former The Only Way Is Essex cast member 8 Montana Brown Love Island contestant 5 Jermaine Pennant Footballer 14 Siva Kaneswaran The Wanted singer 9 Jon-Allan Butterworth Paralympic cyclist 12 Gareth Thomas Former Wales rugby player 15 Melinda Messenger Model & television personality 4 Michelle Heaton Liberty X singer 16 Kirsty-Leigh Porter Hollyoaks actress
Series 6 (2024) An eight-part sixth series began airing in September 2024; the filming took place in New Zealand. The line-up for the series was reported in July 2023, with Pete Wicks set to feature as the first returning recruit following his medical evacuation from the fourth series.