06 November 2023 , 11:14
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Lorraine Kelly made a savage dig towards Matt Hancock after he failed to win the new series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.
The ITV presenter, 63, insisted that she was over the moon that former Pop Idol star Gareth Gates beat Mr Hancock to the poll and won the show after a gruelling and intense seven weeks.
Earlier this Autumn, sixteen celebrity recruits set out on a gruelling seven weeks challenge under the watchful and confrontational eyes of Chief Instructor, Billy Billingham MBE QCB and his team of Directing Staff (DS), Foxy (Jason Fox), Rudy Reyes and Chris Oliver. They pushed the celebs to their limits to see who had the mental and physical strength and resilience to pass the course.
In the end, three recruits remained, singer Gareth Gates, former health secretary Matt Hancock and TV personality Danielle Lloyd and at the end of the course, the DS lined the final three recruits up and Billy told them: “F***ing good effort. All of you. Now you chose to come on what is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most brutal course in the world. So stand proud.” He then announced: “Congratulations, Number 7 (Gareth). You passed… this course.”
Lorraine Kelly says 'thank god' Matt Hancock didn't win Celeb SAS in savage dig (ITV)After the announcement, Gareth was shocked and with the news, responding: “Thank you, staff. Wow. Thank you.” Speaking after the show, Gareth admitted: "It was a really crazy experience. To hear the DS at the end, when Billy said, 'there's only one person we'd actually stand shoulder to shoulder with. And that's you number seven.' That was a really amazing feeling."
Red-faced Lorraine blindsided by raunchy texts from husband during live show
Now, Lorraine has gushed over Gareth's strength and bravery after winning the show, but has slammed Matt Hancock in the same breath. "Thank God Hancock didn't win," Lorraine sniped. "His true colours came to light," she added in reference to the endurance challenge where viewers said that Mr Hancock was 'an expert in lying'. The fallen politician lied through his teeth during the challenge and didn't break character - something which viewers said they had 'seen before'.
After winning the show and beating Mr Hancock to the poll, Gareth said: "I think winning, or, passing was amazing but being the only one really meant a lot to me. Realising that this is real for these DS, was really eye opening. We’re just here creating a TV show but this is what they've had to do for real. I just had huge respect for them, that they have to go through this for real whilst protecting our country."
Viewers deemed Mr Hancock as an 'expert liar' (Channel 4)Speaking about his most traumatic moment on the Channel 4 show, Gareth admitted it was when he opened up about his childhood struggles. He said: "Talking about my traumatic experience as a child. I also really really struggled with my speech. That was the hardest thing but also think another thing that got me through as well."
The singer said that he has come out of the experience a different person. He added: "Yes, hugely. It's definitely made me a much stronger person. "And that fact that I passed, so effectively won the whole thing, proved to myself that I am strong and that I'm not that same, cowering young boy who used to hide in the corner. I have actually grown into a man now and I can handle anything."