There is no show on earth that is tougher than SAS Australia. The reality TV series features a military-style course, which is then completed by 17 celebrity recruits. The harrowing show has made a comeback this year, starring big names such as Locky Gilbert and Anna Heinrich, but despite being on air for only a week, three contestants have already handed in their number.
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Removed from their plushy lifestyles, ex-Special Forces soldiers Ant Middleton, Ollie Ollerton, Clint Emerson and Dan Stott are determined to push the TV personalities out of their comfort zone.
We’ve already witnessed people being lit on fire, pull a two-tonne vehicle and get dunked underwater, so it’s safe to say, the show is not for the fainthearted. But alongside the enormously difficult challenges, recruits are required to live in a base camp, a place which isn’t exactly made to be comfortable.
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Last year, the show was filmed in the Capertree Valley near the Blue Mountains, but now, production has moved to an entirely new location, leaving the mountains behind and instead, opting for the rugged terrains of NSW’s south coast.
The latest season of SAS Australia was filmed at an abandoned coal mine just outside of Dapto, a few hours south of Sydney. Surrounded by bushland and rugged cliffs, the abandoned building is what the recruits called home for two weeks, with temperatures dropping to single digits during the night.
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Recruits are not allowed any personal items. Instead, they are provided with the essentials which include a helmet, chest harness, sleeping mat, tarp, towel, water bottle, knife, mess kit, mug, toilet roll, sanitising wipes, sunglasses, head torch, notebook, pencil, toothpaste, toothbrush, belt, armband, whistle, watch, sleeping bag, compass and two sets of kit (clothing).
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And if you think that’s harsh, wait till you hear what Ant had to say about it all, revealing he doesn’t feel an ounce of sympathy for the contestants.
“I don’t care if recruits pass the course – I am not there to be friends with anyone,” he said. “I am there to make sure the participants overcome their fears and drive them to push themselves to develop the attributes necessary to pass the course.”
