SAS Who Dares Wins puts Bedford dad put through his paces

A dad from Bedford is taking part in the 6th series of gruelling military training show SAS Who Dares Wins.

After a long, drawn-out recruitment process lasting more than six months with 45,000 applications, 35-year-old DJ was picked.

The Bedford businessman said: “I couldn’t believe it when I got the call to say I’d made the final 21.”

The course is set over 10 days and the recruits are taken to remote areas of Scotland where they are sleep deprived, fed minimal calories and driven to physical exhaustion.

DJ added: "The experience is brutal and while I’d watched every previous series to try and prepare, you simply can’t get close to the living hell you are subjected to.

"The constant and persistent heightened state of stress, sleep and food deprivation, combined with the show's huge tasks all under the microscope of the directing staff and the cameras makes for a concoction most can’t handle."

The father of two boys said: "‘After completing the application process over several months and finally getting to the call to say I was on the show, we flew to Inverness and then took a car and ferry ride to the Isle of Skye.

"Due to Covid we then had to isolate for 10 days in a hotel. This was a very strange situation; we were not allowed to talk to the other recruits as they wanted to capture us bonding on camera.

"We were picked up at 4am and taken to a remote train station. Just as we were starting to relax while getting to know each other all hell broke loose.

"The show is both brutal and brilliant and given the circumstances I’m exceptionally proud of what I achieved. Like most recruits we all have a compelling story to tell and part of my motivation to do the show was to tell mine. I managed to do this which took bravery given the platform and the millions of viewers."

The first episode of the six-part series - which is shown on a Sunday night on Channel 4 - has already aired but you can watch it on catch up.