SAS Australia on Channel 7 – Tonight on SAS Australia: Abbey Holmes cheated death in a near-miss cliff fall, while Anthony “The Man” Mundine voluntarily withdrew from the course.
At the halfway point, the nine remaining recruits had bonded, but their trust in each other was tested with a suburban warfare drone task.
In teams of two – a drone operator as the eyes in the sky and the other, a lone ground soldier – the teams worked to navigate a series of buildings and exfiltrate to safety.
Showing reckless behaviour in the task and a questionable attitude, the DS summoned Olympic diver Mathew Mitcham to the mirror room.
During questioning by the DS, Matthew shared the torment of his drug addiction, his devastatingly low self-esteem and how he used self-harm as a coping mechanism.
“When I got overwhelmed with feelings that I couldn’t keep on the inside, I used to cut myself out of anger. Because I felt like then the problem was dealt with, it was some sort of release for me. And after one particular episode, I went far too far, and I, I had to call my grandma to take me to hospital.”
He also talked about how diving gave him a sense of self-worth, saying: “It was my ticket to being special, basically, because I knew I could do it really well. And that’s all I kind of wanted.”
For the second task of the day, the recruits paired up, with one person rappelling down a mountainous cliff face while the other had full control of the rope to break their teammate’s free fall.
Breaking too late and with no control of Abbey’s free fall, international rugby star Mahalia needed DS Jay to step in and save Abbey from hitting the ground.
Shaken and disappointed by her performance in the task, Mahalia was called in to talk with the DS.
Speaking with the DS, Mahalia opened up about the heartbreaking accident that put her mother in the hospital for over a year.
“She’s still with us gratefully. But she did die three times on the table. She spent a year and a half in hospital.”
Mahalia’s older sister moved away and faced with the responsibility of looking after the family and with no one to guide her, her other sister spiralled into drugs.
“My sister had to take responsibility, but she was going through that phase where, because she didn’t have a figure around her to lead, she kind of just took the wrong path, got involved in drugs.”
Tragedy hit the family again when Mahalia’s older sister passed after suffering a heart attack.
“To lose my sister when I was 13 had a massive impact on my family, again experiencing grief at a young age. I went into a shell and isolated myself from everyone. It was painful. The fact that I will never see her or hear her voice again give her one more cuddle, really hurts.”
Lasting five punishing days, Anthony “The Man” Mundine handed in his number. “Walking away, I feel great. I feel that I’ve changed, and something has pushed me out of my comfort zone,” he said.
“Doing a task, even though I didn’t pass a lot of them, I actually learned there are certain things for certain people. So, I’m like one of the best athletes ever. I didn’t say I was the best SAS fella; I just came to enjoy the experience. I made it halfway through and I’m grateful for that.”
Monday night on SAS Australia: An aggressive game of murderball pushes the recruits to their limits before a shock VW and a back-breaking grunt task results in an unlikely hero.
The star recruits remaining on SAS Australia in 2023 are:
Abbey Holmes, 32 – AFL Field Commentator
Dr Craig Challen, 57 – Thai Cave Rescue Hero
Craig McLachlan, 57 – Actor
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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
SAS Australia on Channel 7 and 7plus – Continues 7.30pm Monday
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
