Loose Women star Andrea McLean has revealed that undergoing military training for Channel 4's celebrity edition of SAS: Who Dares Wins took a huge physical and mental toll on her.
The presenter has joined Made in Chelsea's Sam Thompson, Love Island's Camilla Thurlow, I'm a Celebrity's Wayne Bridge and Mamma Mia!'s Jeremy Irvine to endure Ant Middleton's bootcamp in order to raise money for Stand Up to Cancer.
Speaking to Digital Spy and other media at the launch of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins for Stand Up to Cancer, McLean revealed that her "darkest moment" came when being shouted out under interrogation.
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"I’m so glad that I did it. I mean, it was awful," she admitted. "You’ll see. It’s a ridiculous programme. But I’m really glad that I did it."
She elaborated that "baggage" from her past came into play during that moment of high stress, which occurs during Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins' first episode.
McLean went on: "We all have experiences that we’ve been through that we’ve dealt with in our own ways, whether it’s – what I’ve done is put them in a box, in another box, in another box, buried them in the garden, put another heap of stuff on top of it, and just think: 'That was then. I don’t want to look at that anymore'.
"What I didn’t expect was that the second – literally the second – I got there, and all the shouting started, that box blew out of… every box that had ever been shut in. And Ant was right. You know, you don’t know how you’re going to react to certain things. I did not expect that to happen.
"What it made me do is look things in the face, and realise, 'Actually, maybe putting things in boxes is not the best way to deal with things' – if that makes sense.”
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins for Stand up to Cancer will be airing on Channel 4 soon. To make a donation to Stand Up to Cancer, please click here.
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TV Editor, Digital Spy Laura has been watching television for over 30 years and professionally writing about entertainment for almost 10 of those. Previously at LOOK and now heading up the TV desk at the UK's biggest TV and movies site Digital Spy, Laura has helped steer conversations around some of the most popular shows on the box. Laura has appeared on Channel 5 News and radio to talk viewing habits and TV recommendations. As well as putting her nerd-level Buffy knowledge to good use during an IRL meet with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Laura also once had afternoon tea with One Direction, has sat around the fire pit of the Love Island villa, spoken to Sir David Attenborough about the world's oceans and even interviewed Rylan from inside the Big Brother house (housemate status, forever pending).
Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
