SAS Australia on Channel 7 – Tonight on SAS Australia: Heartbreak for Olympic champion Stephanie Rice as a medical withdrawal ended her time on the course, while Olympic runner Peter Bol opened up about the trauma of being falsely accused of blood doping.
DS Ant Middleton made the tough decision to medically withdraw Stephanie Rice. For the first time in SAS Australia history, Ant acknowledged her resilience by dismissing her from the course with her #11 armband.
The fifth recruit to exit the course, Stephanie broke down in tears, saying she wanted more time on the course but was also proud of her performance.
“I just felt like I could’ve kept going. Like, I don’t feel like I’ve learnt [enough] about myself. But being able to leave with my number feels special. I’m really proud of that. I think the lesson for me is knowing that there will be more opportunities and be okay with this moment right here, right now.”
For their first task of the day, the recruits were divided into two teams, with Zima Anderson captaining Team Alpha and Abbey Holmes leading Team Bravo. The teams had to work together to free a vehicle laden with survival equipment. As part of the task, both teams were then ambushed by the Jordanian Royal Air and Armed Forces.
Escaping capture, Peter, Matthew Mitcham, Tim Robards and Dr Craig Challen were the only recruits to pass the task.
Showing strength and cunning in the task, the DS summoned Peter to the mirror room, curious to know more about him.
The Olympic runner revealed how he came to live in Australia, via Egypt, from a war-torn Sudan. He described the heartbreak and injustice of being wrongly accused of taking performance-enhancing drugs.
“I knew sport would finish eventually. I couldn’t care less. But your integrity tested is a different story. When the news did come out that the A sample didn’t match the B, I didn’t know how to react. I wasn’t excited.”
“Like, I wasn’t going to celebrate my own innocence. I was more angry and disappointed in how I was treated by the people who are supposed to look out for you.”
“But I figured I can’t focus on that. I might as well go and break a few more records. People are always gonna question your innocence. You still Google my name and there’s more articles about drug allegations than anything about Tokyo. So that’s gonna be there for life. There’s always gonna be a cloud over your head. But you have to keep pushing and stay strong when you need to as well.”
Tomorrow night on SAS Australia: The nine remaining recruits learn about drone warfare the hard way and a mountain rappel almost ends in disaster. The course claims another victim and two recruits’ painful pasts are revealed.
The star recruits remaining on SAS Australia in 2023 are:
Abbey Holmes, 32 – AFL Field Commentator
Anthony Mundine, 47 – World Champion Boxer
Dr Craig Challen, 57 – Thai Cave Rescue Hero
Craig McLachlan, 57 – Actor
Mahalia Murphy, 29 – International Rugby Star
Matthew Mitcham, 35 – Olympic Gold Diver
Peter Bol, 29 – Olympic Runner
Tim Robards, 40 – OG Bachelor
Zima Anderson, 25 – Actor
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SAS Australia on Channel 7 and 7plus – Continues 7.30pm Tuesday
SAS Australia on Channel 7
About SAS Australia
The most savage show on TV, SAS Australia, returns to Channel 7 and 7plus on Monday, 9 October with a new group of star recruits descending on one of the toughest environments faced by Special Forces operatives: the Middle East.
Former world boxing champion Anthony Mundine, ‘Cocaine Cassie’, Olympians Stephanie Rice, Peter Bol and Matthew Mitcham, Balinese princess Lindy Klim, Thai cave rescue hero Dr Craig Challen and Brownlow medallist Jason Akermanis are just some of the 14 Aussie celebrities who have volunteered for the toughest challenge of their lives: a series of physical and psychological tests from the real SAS selection process.
For the first time on SAS Australia, these men and women will travel offshore to a secret base in the Jordanian desert where they will eat, sleep and train together in punishingly hot conditions without allowances for their celebrity status or gender.
Chief Instructor Ant Middleton is once again joined by Ollie Ollerton and two new Directing Staff, Jamie “Jay” Morton and Anthony “Staz” Stazicker.
With a combined half-century of Special Forces experience between them, their mission is to break down each recruit and rebuild them to be the best versions of themselves, determining who, if any, have what it takes to be selected as a fellow SAS soldier.
SAS Australia is produced by Screentime, a Banijay Group company, based on a Minnow Films format.
The star recruits set to take on SAS Australia in 2023 are:
Abbey Holmes, 32 – AFL Field Commentator
Anthony Mundine, 47 – World Champion Boxer
Boyd Cordner, 30 – Retired NRL Star
Cassie Sainsbury, 28 – Convicted Drug Smuggler
Dr Craig Challen, 57 – Thai Cave Rescue Hero
Craig McLachlan, 57 – Actor
Jason Akermanis, 46 – AFL Hall of Famer
Lindy Klim, 45 – Balinese Princess
Mahalia Murphy, 29 – International Rugby Star
Matthew Mitcham, 35 – Olympic Gold Diver
Peter Bol, 29 – Olympic Runner
Stephanie Rice, 34 – Olympic Champion
Tim Robards, 40 – OG Bachelor
Zima Anderson, 25 – Actor
Media Release – Seven
SAS Australia on Channel 7
TV Central Seven content HERE
SAS Australia on Channel 7
