SAS Who Dares Wins bosses sign up ex Health Secretary Matt Hancock for new series

MATT Hancock has agreed to appear on the next series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.

The former Health Secretary is the first serving MP to take part in the popular Channel 4 show.

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Hancock, 43, confirmed he would take part earlier this month during a meeting with producers.

Insiders said the Tory MP for West Suffolk was hoping a stint on the gruelling series – where he will be put through his paces by an elite team of ex-special forces from the UK and US – would show a different side to his character after The Sun revealed his affair with his aide Gina Coladangelo in May.

A source said: “Matt impressed Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins producers when he spoke to them and has now agreed to take part.

“He is the biggest name to have signed up for the next series and it is a real coup for the show.

“Matt knows there is a mixed perception of him in the public eye and he wants to go on the show to reveal a different side to himself.

“It is not unusual for MPs to take part in these kinds of shows and Matt thinks he could go far on SAS, despite it being the hardest of all the reality series on television.”

Hancock – who ran last year’s London Marathon, and has been pictured exercising in the parks around Westminster – will appear on the show alongside a number of other celebrities.

He will be put through his paces by former US marine Rudy Reyes and his fellow hard-men – including ex Royal Marines commando Jason Fox.

Hancock is a keep fit fan who enjoys Parkour – a training exercise which involves free jumping and climbing, usually in urban environments.

He previously shared videos online of himself practising jumping off concrete blocks in London.

Hancock said: “I’ve seen it on YouTube and it’s amazing but you never think you can get involved because I can’t do those sorts of flips.”

In the midst of the pandemic in 2020 he also vowed to whip the nation into shape.

Hancock told The Sun: “One of the reasons we’ve had such a bad time of Covid is that we’re one of the fattest countries in Europe and we need to tackle that.

“The way to do that is supporting people and motivating people to do what’s right for them and what’s right by the NHS. It’s a call to action, a national effort that we need.”

He added: “I got quite fit during the general election campaign and I lost some weight. I’m just so glad that I did, because it helped.”

Celebrity SAS is on now, with stars including EastEnders’ Maisie Smith and Love Island’s Amber Gill taking part.

Challenges in this series have included being tasked with jumping out of a helicopter with a heavy Bergen bag and abseiling down a sheer cliff face.

Each series also sees the contestants being grilled in interrogation style interviews designed to break them down.

In this year’s show athletes Fatima Whitbread and Jonathan Broom-Edwards both broke ribs on the show.

And Towie star Pete Wicks was forced to pull out after he knocked himself unconscious after jumping out a helicopter during filming in Jordan.

Hancock’s affair with his aide Coladangelo was revealed last year by The Sun.

A video of the pair kissing in his office caused outrage among the public as the then Health Secretary had at the time warned the public to hug “carefully”.

In the footage obtained by The Sun Hancock was seen groping Coladangelo’s behind and kissing her in his office in parliament.

He resigned the following month following mounting pressure from his Tory party colleagues.

Channel 4

AFP