SAS Who Dares Wins bosses ask ex Health Secretary Matt Hancock for new series
MATT Hancock has been asked to appear on the next series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.
The former Health Secretary is the first serving MP to have been called up to take part in the popular Channel 4 show.
Hancock, 43, was asked to take part earlier this month during a meeting with producers.
Insiders said the Tory MP for West Suffolk could use a stint on the gruelling series to show the public a different side to Matt - whose affair with his aide Gina Coladangelo was revealed by The Sun in May 2021.
A source said: “Matt impressed Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins producers when he spoke to them and they want him to take part.
“He would be the biggest name to have signed up for the next series and it would be a real coup for the show.
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“Matt knows there is a mixed perception of him in the public eye and he thinks going on the show would 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.”
A spokesperson for Matt said: "Matt gets a huge number of offers and is asked to appear on TV shows all the time but he has not signed up to anything."
Hancock - who ran last year’s London Marathon and did a 100 mile trek around Mount Blanc to raise over £22,500 for Cambridge Children's Hospital - will appear on the show alongside a number of other celebrities.
If he signs on the dotted line 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.
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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.
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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.
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