Pete Wicks has been forced to withdraw from the new series of Channel 4's Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins after getting a task "very wrong" The reality television star, best known for The Only Way Is Essex, found himself knocked unconscious in the sea with broken bones.
In the second episode of the new series, Pete teamed up with Ashley Cain for a task that required the pair to jump from a helicopter and work together to get to the shore. The challenge was part of a series of brutal exercises, designed to push the recruits to face and overcome their deepest trust issues.
However, Pete found himself knocked unconscious, and while he did recover and swim back to shore, the unfortunate accident meant he was unable to continue with the Selection Course. What's more, the TOWIE star broke his ribs in the process.
Explaining what had happened, Pete said he wasn't worried about the challenge because swimming is one of his strengths: "I genuinely thought this would be the challenge for me to show what I f*****g got. I got it wrong, I got it very wrong. I think my leg got a little bit caught in the bag and I went straight down onto the bag, knocked myself out and broke my ribs.
"I was unconscious in the water so I don't really remember much, just the rescue swimmers coming to get me and they flicked me over and then said 'We need to get you in the boat.' I didn't want to get in the boat because if you start something, you have to finish it, so then I remember trying to swim back. The last thing I remember was trying to make sure Ash was all right. We got to shore and then I realised 'F**k I've actually hurt myself here'."
Pete added: "I felt dazed and confused. I was struggling to move my upper body. Basically, I think where I'd hit the bag, and I think just the impact of being unconscious and everything else, I was very confused. I didn't really know exactly what was going on and even moving my arms was quite painful, just because the pressure that was on my ribs and everything, so it just wasn't nice. It was just a strange, strange experience."
Despite his injuries, Pete said he was "gutted" he was forced to withdraw from the competition. He explained: "I was gutted actually. This is a bit of a thing for me, it's like I've always wanted to do this show and the worst thing for me was to be taken out because that's something that I can't control.
"But being completely honest, they're a hundred percent right because I wouldn't have been able to carry on with my broken ribs. To have been out so early, I was absolutely gutted because it's a fail."
He added: "There was no way I was ever going to hand my armband in. I knew I never would, so to go out the way I did really hurt. To be withdrawn because you're physically unable to carry on for something that was an unfortunate accident, I just found really, really tough.
"My ribs were really bruised and it’s taken time to heal. But the team on the show were great. I completely get why they took me out. At the time I felt like I wanted to try and carry on and I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to - they know better than I do. And obviously me being unconscious is a big thing, they can’t take any risks and I totally get that. But it doesn’t mean I’m not absolutely gutted."
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins continues Sunday at 9pm on Channel 4. For more showbiz and television stories, get our newsletter here.
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