31 October 2023 , 16:40
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Matt Hancock has confessed Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins pushed him to his absolute limits while he sat through a painful final challenge on the hit Channel 4 show.
The 45-year-old politician has made it all the way to the final of the gruelling military endurance test show alongside WAG Danielle Lloyd, singer Gareth Gates, athlete Perri Shakes-Drayton and Love Island star Teddy Soares. For their final challenge, the celebrity contestants endure the final Interrogation stage which sees them deprived of sleep food and comfort.
Viewers will see the stars forced to stand in uncomfortable positions for hours, have their senses numbed as their heads are covered to stop them from being able to see, and sounds played at them to make them feel more anxious. Once their hoods are removed, however, there is no respite, as they are brought face to face with fierce dogs, and asked brutal questions by interrogators.
Mr Hancock has opened up about the final episode of the season - which will air on Sunday night - and says viewers will see him put through his paces once again, but hints he had the resolve to win the challenge. He said: "It was really one of the most difficult things I've ever done and a very unpleasant experience.
Matt Hancock described the Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins final as 'a very unpleasant experience' (Pete Dadds/Channel 4)“The only way through it was to have the same attitude that I had during the whole course, to just keep sticking around for a few more minutes all the way through, even when the interrogators were trying to rile me.” Before joining the cast of the show, the former Health Secretary - who was a senior member of government during the Covid-19 pandemic - said he wanted to test his mettle. He said in a pre-show interview: "After coming through the most challenging period as Health Secretary during the pandemic, I wanted to push my limits. It's safe to say the course tested my resilience!"
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Viewers have watched Mr Hancock endure all manner of physical and mental trials - with the politician being left with broken ribs after a fight challenge against 28-year-old Teddy, and being brutally put down in an interrogation by a Liz Truss lookalike.
Mr Hancock made it to the final alongside Gareth Gates, Perri Shakes-Drayton, Danielle Lloyd and Teddy Soares (Channel 4)The other Celebrity SAS finalists have also explained that the final challenge was the toughest to endure. Gareth, 39, said: “It was definitely the worst experience of my life. I haven't ever felt pain like it. When you are held in those stressful positions for hours, it’s torture.
“I’ve seen the show and I've watched it on the screen but you just aren't able to understand the pain of holding those positions, which look so simple. Also, with these noises that they put in your ears, you become extremely anxious. It isn't just the coupling of the physical pain of the stress positions with the anxiousness. The sounds make you feel awful, it really is unbearable. It was really horrendous.”
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins airs Sunday 5 November at 9pm. Stream or watch live on Channel 4.