Matt Hancock faced his most extreme on-screen punishment yet in the finale of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. for being an “arrogant w*****”
The celebrity spin-off of Channel 4’s ruthless show, which sees a group of famous faces put to the ultimate test by undergoing tasks from the Special Forces selection process, comes to an end on Sunday (5 November). Only model Danielle Lloyd, singer Gareth Gates, politician Matt Hancock, reality star Teddy Soares, and athlete Perri Shakes-Drayton remain of the original 16 recruits.
For the penultimate episode, the five finalists were ambushed and captured by a group of ex-Special Forces members. They were then put up for interrogation by a team of interrogators with over 40 years’ experience in war zones. “Resistance to interrogation” is a key stage of real-life SAS selection which uses techniques not permitted by the British Army.
They were then placed in detention, where their heads were covered in sacks and they were forced to listen to uncomfortable noises, sit in “stress positions” and endure the close-by barking of muzzled dogs.
One by one over 14 hours, the recruits were then subjected to their most intense interrogation process of the series so far, where they had been given a fake cover story to stick to about their reason for being in the area.
During his interrogation, Hancock, 45, was accused of not properly answering the questions put to him. However, watching from outside the room, the anonymous top interregator praised his “credible delivery”, saying: “The reality of it is he’s really good at lying.”
During the ordeal Hancock’s tone irked the interrogators, and resulted in them branding the ex-health secretary a “f***ing arrogant w*****”.
Hancock was interrogated throughout the show— (Channel 4)
“He’s going out of his way to try and win every verbal spat,” he said. “He can’t help himself, can he?... Everything’s a power struggle.”
In the interrogation room, Hancock was then told to “get up”, as the man questioning him said he was “not interested in this f***ing bulls***”. The former health secretary was warned: “You’re trying your best to talk around this s***, but it ain’t gonna work.”
Hancock was then taken outside in the rain, where the lead interrogator gave the instruction: “Put him on the box and tell him, ‘Cross your legs and smirk now.’” Outside, Hancock was restrained and made to sit in an extreme stress position on two wooden blocks while the rain poured down.
Describing the experience, Hancock said: “It was really one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done and a very unpleasant experience. 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.”
Hancock’s final appearance on Celebrity SAS, which was filmed last year before he appeared on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!. He was paid £45,000 to appear on the Channel 4 show.
In the first episode, Hancock, who has described the show as “one of the toughest things I’ve ever done”, was immediately put through his paces by ex-army officials, including Jason “Foxy” Fox.
He was soon given a brutal nickname by Fox – “Hancock with a silent ‘han’”. After first meeting him, Fox pushed Hancock into a river in Vietnam, then turned to smirk at the camera.
Earlier this week Hancock was under fire after it emerged he wanted to personally decide “who should live and who should die” if hospitals became overwhelmed at the height of the Covid pandemic, the former boss of the NHS has said.
In another day of explosive evidence at the official coronavirus inquiry, Simon Stevens said ministers were warned in February 2020 that as many as 840,000 people could perish – sparking the “unresolved but fundamental ethical debate” about who should be prioritised for NHS care.
In a shocking response, Mr Hancock, the then health secretary, argued that he – rather than doctors or the public – should decide who should be prioritised. Mr Hancock “took the position that in this situation he ... should ultimately decide who should live and who should die”, Lord Stevens told the hearing.
The bombshell claim follows a week of evidence that has revealed the chaos at the heart of government as Covid gripped the nation.
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins concludes Sunday 5 November at 9pm on Channel 4.
