Channel 4 has reportedly had a ‘last-minute change of heart’ to save Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins from being axed.
The star-studded reality programme has run for six seasons after the civilian programme launched in 2015.
SAS: Who Dares Wins was later axed to ‘shift Channel 4’s focus to prioritising’ the celebrity spin-off, which has since seen the likes of AJ Odudu, Alexandra Burke, Joey Essex, Ferne McCann, Curtis Pritchard and even Matt Hancock put through brutal trials.
The most recent series, which began airing in September last year after filming took place in New Zealand the year before, saw John Barrowman and Pete Wicks up against Marnie Simpson and Bobby Norris as they went through military training in harsh environments.
It’s now been claimed there were plans to axe the series, but Channel 4 bosses made a last-minute decision to save it, according to reports.
It’s said that footage from the upcoming series caused bosses to change their minds.
A source claimed to The Sun: ‘Channel 4 never officially announced that Celebrity SAS had been dropped, but behind closed doors, they had decided not to bring it back — at least for the time being.
‘It’s an expensive show to make, as far as reality shows go, and budgets have been tightened.’
The insider added that a seventh series has already been filmed and is due to air this year.
They said: ‘They filmed a series in 2024, which will air later in 2025, and that was quietly considered to be the last one they would make.
‘However, it’s a beloved franchise and they have had a last-minute change of heart after doing the edit for the unaired series that’s in the can.’
Rumours of who could be taking part in the upcoming series have been swirling, and are said to include N-Dubz star Fazer.
SAS: Who Dares Wins sees a team of celebrity recruits endure two weeks of training that mirrors actual UK military training, pushing their minds and bodies to extreme lengths.
Previous tasks have seen them fight each other, escape from gas-filled rooms and jump out of helicopters, having to deal with several injuries along the way.
DS Billy Billingham previously revealed he thought Strictly Come Dancing star Pete was at risk of dying during one of the challenges, where the reality star collapsed to the floor and struggled to breathe.
Pete – who was forced to back out of a previous Celebrity SAS series after suffering another injury – addressed the ordeal, saying: ‘Look, that was a tough challenge. I collapsed. I just pushed myself to a limit and I was very dehydrated.’
He continued: ‘Weirdly enough, I think I’m the only person that gets heat exhaustion in the snow. I hadn’t looked after myself and it’s a fine line between getting stuff right and wrong.’
Two years earlier, Pete was forced to quit when he jumped out of a helicopter into a lake, knocking himself unconscious with his backpack as he hit the water face-down at full speed.
Speaking about the incident, Pete previously said: ‘I genuinely thought this would be the challenge for me to show what I f****** got and 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 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.’
Celebrity SAS is currently led by Directing Staff Mark ‘Billy’ Billingham, Jason ‘Foxy’ Fox, Chris Oliver and Rudy Reyes, who took over after Ant Middleton’s departure.
Ant who had hosted SAS: Who Dares Wins since 2015, was axed from the Channel 4 show in 2021 due to ‘personal conduct’.
It has since been claimed he’s been ‘dealt another blow’ after the Australian version of SAS: Who Dares Wins is facing a rumoured cancellation.
Metro has approached reps for Channel 4 and Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins for comment.
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins is available to watch on Channel 4.
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