You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Couldn't see a thread on this from last night. Anyone see it? It has women in this year, ooh controversial!
We watched it last night. Three people dropped out almost immediately, one before even doing anything, apparently because he didn't have his own ensuite bathroom facilities.
Which always begs the obvious question; did you actually watch this programme before you signed up for it? Did you somehow get confused and mistake it for X Factor or something?
Always liked these series, should be interesting with them working at altitude and in the cold, tough conditions.
Having the women involved will be interesting as well, gives a whole other dynamic to the groups.
I think some of the candidates need to give their heads a wobble! Leaving soaking wet undearwear on in those conditions is a death sentence!
We watched it last night. Three people dropped out almost immediately, one before even doing anything, apparently because he didn’t have his own ensuite bathroom facilities.
he signed up for the army today as they need ......ah leave it
Love the program, more so now the women have been allowed for selection, I think there's something to learn from people in the program from their hardships in life no matter how big or small.
Just started watching it, I’ll be amazed if the women can handle the physical requirements....but hope they do.
didn’t have his own ensuite bathroom facilities.
Lets be fair to the guy - he quit because his religious beliefs meant more to him than the experience awaiting him. Sharing his toilet habits with a member of his opposite sex is against his translation of his religious moral code.
He may or may not have used this excuse to "wimp out" which is the implication here but perhaps give the guy a fair hearing before labelling him. After all, sticking to his morals is a mental strength by itself.
Just started watching it, I’ll be amazed if the women can handle the physical requirements….but hope they do.
I love the fact they've planted a female member of the Swedish Special Forces in the group as a comparison/fairer judgement.
Although not a ‘contestant’ show – another 3-programme series is starting on ITV Thursday 10 Jan 9:00pm
‘The Paras: Men of War’
“Documentary following the 28-week training course for the parachute regiment.”
He may or may not have used this excuse to “wimp out” which is the implication here but perhaps give the guy a fair hearing before labelling him. After all, sticking to his morals is a mental strength by itself.
But he must have been fully aware of his morals before-hand? What on earth did he expect? Thats the point I'm making. Have some of them never watched it before applying? I don't believe for a minute that he went out there with the impression it'd be much different from that? He'd surely have been fully informed about the whole situation with women contestents this year? And that they'd all be in there together?
Looked to me like a handy 'get out' clause, and he's arrived and thought 'what the hell have I let myself in for here?'
I loved the Swedish special forces woman too. Nice touch! As she's no doubt harder than 99.999999999999999999% of blokes on the planet
He’d surely have been fully informed about the whole situation with women contestents this year? And that they’d all be in there together?
I doubt it, probably first time he knew was on the plane/bus when he met the other contestants
Although the easy get out is just as much on the cards in that situation too
I find it fascinating how many are properly fit - but gym fit it seems.
Those that succeed are in a place mentally push, but also seem to understand the challenges they will face require thought, organisation and team effort, not bronzer and 10reps in front of the mirror... 😉
Yeah, its interesting that all the instructers were unanimous in their opinion that the fireman is the odds on favourite, yet I don't think we've heard him speak. Whereas the gym bunny's are all happily going on about how hard and strong they are, shortly before they leave in tears.
Its a great programme. You'd have to be out of your mind to go anywhere near any of those blokes shouting at you. Makes you realise how absolutely nails they really are that all the stuff they have them doing just seems to be another day at the office for them
Its a great programme. You’d have to be out of your mind to go anywhere near any of those blokes shouting at you. Makes you realise how absolutely nails they really are that all the stuff they have them doing just seems to be another day at the office for them
I sat in on the ergo "eliminators" for the oxford boat race team once, they had to bury themselves while a ex east german coach yelled expletives in they're faces from an inch away. It was quite a eye opener to see someone "blow up" so badly they couldn't even walk.
I can never decide which of my favourite tank pics to masterbate over as I watch,then I go to work and tell everyone that I could have joined the S.A.S.,was personally asked actually,but those damn fallen arches stopped me being a modern day killing machine.But I console myself by being an extreme mountain biker and I ravenously by my carbon bike and my garmin and the newest seatpost/chainset/wheels money can buy,but then they just sit in the garage,unmoving,limp like my dick until I get to see the panzer 111 and I feel like a modern cutting edge important man again,out of way i must make progress.
Haven't seen it yet but formula for TV elimination shows is to have people bail for all sorts of reasons some lasting five mins and others going the distance with everything in between including (ideally) the unexpected. It would be dull if they were all actually elite triathlon kickboxing ninjas with only marginal differences.
Step away from the computer mikey3....
I used to work for an organisation led by ex special forces.
We were setting up some corporate team work challenges, and I was struggling to climb about 12-15' up a tree to attach a rope. One of the guys offered me a stand on his shoulders. I'm 6' and 14st - he just cold stood up with me on shoulders.... Then ran back from Borrowdale to Keswick because he 'needed the air', in walking boots...
Same chap a day later at midnight managed to get within 10m of me in a pitch black, steep forest side in which I was hiding... He let me know he was there by flashing his watch light at me...
Amazing skills and physicality in which he took great satisfaction from practicing and maintaining, and still does, even at retirement age...
he just cold stood up with me on shoulders…. Then ran back from Borrowdale to Keswick
How did you maintain your balance?
How did you maintain your balance?
You owe me a new cup of tea! Proper lols
He's a very experienced unicyclist
A pal of ours is a coded welder and was on a rig when a mock hijack was staged as an exercise by the SAS. They were told to carry on as usual. He went to the galley to make a brew and a bloke appeared, dressed in black, aimed a gun at his head and just said "Bang". No drama.
I must be a bit thick as I don't understand that story. Sorry.
a bloke appeared, dressed in black, aimed a gun at his head and just said “Bang”
I don't know much about guns, but people who work with them are usually completely anal about not pointing them at people unnecessarily, loaded or unloaded. So either that story had been embellished, or the SAS bloke was a cowboy. Sure it wasn't Sean Bean?
I used to work for an organisation led by ex special forces.
Had they been sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit?
Could it have been Super Army Soldier Ross Kemp?
Is this different to SAS are you tough enough? Our friend Annie was in the first series and I think might even have got to the final although Wikipedia says otherwise.
It is a different show, although almost identical in format. Are you tough enough was on BBC and presented by Dermot O'Leary, according to Wiki.
Oil rig thing is definitely true as I've seen the documentary
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea_Hijack
So either that story had been embellished, or the SAS bloke was a cowboy
Maybe he didn't say bang...
I wouldn't have got past the cold water test.....I ****in hate cold water!
Of course seeing as the latest batch of contestants would all have seen the mind games inflicted in previous years, the Staff have to come up with new ways of doing their heads in. It used to be run to the top of that mountain and back and then we'll tell you the next checkpoint......only to be told the next checkpoint is back to the top of the mountain. 🙂
There is a certain amount of myth to the SAS status, they are part reality and a whole lot of fiction. The reality part can go cowboy just like any other squadies.
There is a certain amount of myth to the SAS status, they are part reality and a whole lot of fiction. The reality part can go cowboy just like any other squadies.
Of course there is. While I'm sure they are a special breed of hard as nails heroic people, to not have a myth that makes people piss their pants when they hear the SAS are coming rather defeats the object...
Had they been sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit?
No, but the youngsters we worked with were likely to end up in jail, for crimes they did commit...
"Is this different to SAS are you tough enough? Our friend Annie was in the first series and I think might even have got to the final although Wikipedia says otherwise."
IIRC, it was series 2 that a Lady got to the final, at the time she was a member of our MTB Club, cant remember her name now, but I think she worked for High 5, lived in the Derby area. She jointly won it if my old memory has got it right. She clearly had great determination and mental toughness, but she was a crap MTB racer!
^^ I seem to remember a lady doctor doing very well in one of these programmes.
^^^ I thought she won it, and fair play to her! Determination takes you so far, gotta have the physical nous and bigger mental cajones than anyone else who can match you physically.
Enjoyed the first SAS:WDW - not a big fan of the bearded nonce shouting at birds, but kind of understand why he done it.
spawnofyorkshire
Subscriber
@mikey3
Just remember that the boathouse at Hereford is green
I think you'll find it's pronounced..."Heer-ford" ;o)
I do quite like this program. With the guy who left early on you've got to remember that the program is edited to be dramatic. Bit like the woman who was always crying. Probably not the case but that was the footage they chose.
It does amaze me that people don't watch the previous series and do a bit of research. Someone mentioned it above but they do all seem to be gym bunnies. If I was going to go on the show I'd have spent my time doing a lot of running and marching carrying heavy stuff - becuase that is the bulk of the work. I do hope some of the women make it through. The problem is that the tough part at the start is strength and stamina. It is towards the end where the mental side comes in.
Quite enjoying this but I've not watched the previous series and I may have missed it if they mentioned it on this one but what is the prize for whoever wins ?
I seem to remember a lady doctor doing very well in one of these programmes.
Back in the day (2004) the fearsome Wendy Dodds did very well in one series. She is a Doctor. And fell runner.
https://www.lancasterguardian.co.uk/news/make-no-bones-about-it-wendy-is-tough-1-1176729
Quite enjoying this but I’ve not watched the previous series and I may have missed it if they mentioned it on this one but what is the prize for whoever wins ?
A balaclava, Sub Machine-gun and immediate entry into the SAS no-questions-asked. Nah, they win a firm handshake and BFH.
Technically, it's a 'selection course' supposedly like SAS selection so it's not about beating the others to be the winner, it's about passing the course. They could in theory all pass or all fail, but they do seem to push it into single or two 'winners'. Actually now I think of it the winner(s), who look half dead by the end of it don't even get BFH, they get a handshake or pat on the back from the DS and they get to jog into the distance with their backpacks on for the sake of drone footage. After all that I'd want a nice sit down, not a jog in the desert.
Ant made a bit of a dick-move last night IMO.
He disliked 13 the moment he clapped eyes on her, but laughing in the face of that massive climb and forward descent seemed to be the final straw for him. I don't recall any of them mentioning you had to complete each task with hardman scowl on your face at all times.
I can't take him seriously given how obvious his Grecian 20000 habit is.
Ah, I remember the first series. One of my housemates at uni was a fell racer and had raced against her.
It came on, he announced "oh shit, it's her, she'll win it, she's a ****ing machine"
And his was right.
I thought it was really odd that after all the previous footage of who was the weak links etc. when they finally came to chuck two out, one of them was someone who's never been mentioned or shown to be struggling at any stage of the process. How odd was that?
Me and the Mrs thought the same. Poorly edited. They didn't even mention him in the clip when they short-listed people.
You don't win anything ? I'm amazed they can find people prepared to volunteer.
Agree with the comments on number 11 getting the boot. He hadn't featured at all. Maybe we was a plant too to create some "suspense".
I thought it was really odd that after all the previous footage of who was the weak links etc. when they finally came to chuck two out, one of them was someone who’s never been mentioned or shown to be struggling at any stage of the process. How odd was that?
Was a strange one, the person doesn't appear in any of the edits or have any background. They most likely have no story or since leaving have a bad story that the show doesn't want to associated with so they were given no air time.
when they finally came to chuck two out, one of them was someone who’s never been mentioned or shown to be struggling at any stage of the process. How odd was that?
Its a TV show, they probably come across as boring so don't make the edits and are moved on ASAP.
It's as fake as the Bear Grylls shows and all the others where people do outdoor stuff. Watched 20 minutes last night and gave up as I hurt my ribs laughing.
Literally laughed out loud at this quote from Ant Middleton; "Fighting wars is not a laughing matter. When you let an ounce of normal in, you’re going to find yourself dead or your pals dead.”
I think the viewers ought to know what No 11 did.
Or rather who...?
globalti - Member
It’s as fake as the Bear Grylls shows and all the others where people do outdoor stuff. Watched 20 minutes last night and gave up as I hurt my ribs laughing.
Give it a go then, you're quite right the don't look like they are doing any work at all...
Nice to see equal rights (and lefts) in the boxing match.
I get shin splints running up stairs. Is there a TA version I can apply for abc fail?
globalti – Member
It’s as fake as the Bear Grylls shows and all the others where people do outdoor stuff. Watched 20 minutes last night and gave up as I hurt my ribs laughing.
Do go and watch the Ant Middleton programme where he climbs Everest - and gets stuck in -30 the wrong side of the Hillary Step with folk hanging off the rope dying in front of him. You do see that he is a family man, pretty understated at times ("I consider myself someone who is reasonably capable...") and also frightened like the rest of us...
There was a bit too much cuddling going on last night too. Maybe the edit focuses on that, but it wasn't in previous years.
looks like he might have looking to use this TV challenge as a publicity vehicle for a film he was starring in.
Do go and watch the Ant Middleton programme where he climbs Everest – and gets stuck in -30 the wrong side of the Hillary Step with folk hanging off the rope dying in front of him.
The one where he used fixed ropes and oxygen like all the tourist climbers and cried his little eyes out when he nearly died. He was guided most of the way up that hill and was bloody lucky to make it to camp for being a fool and staying on top too long. Made me wonder if he'd really done more than a week in the SAS.
The one where he used fixed ropes and oxygen like all the tourist climbers and cried his little eyes out when he nearly died. He was guided most of the way up that hill and was bloody lucky to make it to camp for being a fool and staying on top too long. Made me wonder if he’d really done more than a week in the SAS.
Calm down superman, your misses fancy him and hit a nerve or something.
Yes he was guided, would be mad not to, same as using the fixed ropes. And I think I'd probably shed a tear if I was under the mental and physical stress that they were, nowt wrong with that.
I'm just wondering where Rory McGrath, Tony Robinson and the other two have got to
Made me wonder if he’d really done more than a week in the SAS.
He hasn’t, he was SBS.
Calm down superman, your misses fancy him and hit a nerve or something.
Yes he was guided, would be mad not to, same as using the fixed ropes.
She prefers women. And I thought the leet SAS ran up Everest twice before a breakfast of crude oil? Many many many much harder men and women have done it without the help of 30 sherpas and a highly paid annoying git.
Middleton joined the army in 1997 at the age of 16 where he served in the 9 Parachute Squadron RE and served tours of duty in Northern Ireland and Macedonia. After leaving the army he later re-enlisted in the Royal Marines in 2001 and did a tour in Afghanistan, and then in 2008 joined the Special Boat Service, serving for four years as a point man and sniper. Due to the title of the show SAS: Who Dares Wins, it is often erroneously assumed that Middleton served in the Special Air Service.
Yeah a right pussy. Maybe you and he should spend 5 minutes in a lift having a chat about it and see who walks out first.
I'd be out first unless he had a guide.
I'm sure he's normally well hard but on Everest he was reduced to tourist level. But so was Grylls.
More tv editing? shame it wasn't mentioned, it show how tough it is and how much they push themselves.
Laura Bird
20 January at 21:45
I need to clear a few things up here that Channel 4 failed to mention....
2 hours after I handed my number in, I was AIR LIFTED to Santiago hospital with acute appendicitis. Once I got to the hospital, I had emergency surgery to have my appendix removed. Had I have carried on and not handed my number in, my appendix would have almost definitley burst. And I would have definitely come pretty close to being in a box in the ground.
I didn’t hand my number in because I couldn’t hack it. I didn’t hand my number in because I was giving up. I didn’t hand my number in because I wasn’t good enough. I didn’t hand my number in because I wanted to stop or couldn’t tolerate any more. I handed it in because I was physically unable to continue. I handed it in because I was in too much pain to stand up or walk...(appendicitis feels like Anthony Joshua is kicking you in ribs. Repeatedly. Whilst on your period).
The whole point of going on this adventure (apart from getting to meet Foxy - obviously) was to see just how far I could go. Just how far I was physically and psychologically able to go. But also, to try and act as some sort of role model. To try and ensure my story acts as some sort of inspiration to ANYONE who may be struggling with their mental health. Everyone is fighting their own battle. You CAN get better if you want to.
So, please share this. Share the shit out of it. Not just for the sake of my own dignity and pride, but for ANYONE you may know that might need a bit of a kick up the arse when it comes to helping themselves. ANYONE who needs to realise that THEY ARE ENOUGH.
Channel 4 also forgot to mention that number 20 is an international level boxer, who, with that in mind - should have probably chosen a slightly more challenging opponent. Think I stood my ground pretty well all things considered.
Thank you to the 24 other remarkable individuals I was so privileged to share this experience with.
Thank you so much to my wonderful partner and my incredible friends (you know who you are) who were there for me for every second of this experience (even when they were not in the same continent at times). I love you all unconditionally ❤️
What do these people expect to happen when they go on a show like this? Let's face it there is a premade story board/script for what they want the show to look like and what direction it follows before they have even started filming. Everything that doesn't fit that story board gets cut or manipulated so it does fit. Hardly a new concept.
A chap from a health club near us is/was on it.
He was the one that left when the 'mole' packed it in during the last program. The organisers were very surprised as he was regarded as a front runner (hence why he had hardly featured at all so far - they're only interested in the ones that are struggling) - but he'd failed to tell them that his wife was expecting a baby which was due just before the filming started but it was late.
He decided to take part anyway but couldn't cope with not knowing what was going on back home - so he walked.
You would have thought that Laura ^ might have said something to the doc about the pain she was in.
hence why he had hardly featured at all so far – they’re only interested in the ones that are struggling
It looks like there are only 4 episodes and since we have had 3 so far that doesn't make sense. That midwife has featured heavily and has been on the promotional tour for tv etc. The front runners (as far as the broadcast goes) won't be left to the last episode. No one will give a shit about them then.
Missed all this until now.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but, this is like one of those corporate team building events, albeit a lot colder and with more shouty instructors and less sleep?
No idea Rene.... just reporting what my SIL said, and she knows the guy.
Midwife is fit and gets cold - which is why she's featuring 🙂
Midwife is fit and gets cold – which is why she’s featuring
and why I'm watching!
Correct me if I’m wrong, but, this is like one of those corporate team building events, albeit a lot colder and with more shouty instructors and less sleep?
Yeah, basically.
Has anyone watched the american version of this? It's called 'The Selection USA' I would highly recommend a watch if you fancy a cringe, see if you can match the US guys up with who they are meant to be in the UK verison.
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-selection-usa
I would watch it, but it wont let me, says adblocker enabled, so no SAS for me
Just read Laura's letter and I'm a bit worried not just that this show might be taking liberties with the truth, but that all TV might be not true either, please reassure me she has it wrong and she is trying to manipulate us. After all if TV shows are just manipulating the truth in the name of entertainment it would mean it's all worthless trash and not worth watching!
Not too fussed about who cares who wins, but this has ruined Love Island for me.
Seriously though, given we all know this and are willingly suspending our disbelief, does it matter? OK this programme purports to be a documentary of some kind, is that the issue?
Midwife is fit and gets cold – which is why she’s featuring
Louise. Just sayin'
Haven't watched any of this series so far but the delctable Victoria Pendleton is in the celebrity version showing later in the year 💅🏻 💅🏻 💅🏻