'IT'LL HAUNT ME'
Celeb SAS star forced to PULL OUT of show after being knocked unconscious underwater during terrifying helicopter jump
CELEBRITY SAS: Who Dares Wins star Pete Wicks has been forced to withdraw from the show after being knocked unconscious in a brutal challenge.
The Towie favourite, 33, broke his ribs after plummeting into the sea off the Jordanian coast from a helicopter alongside Ashley Cain.
4
4
4
Pete was left dazed and confused having smashed into his bag upon impact.
Despite coming too in time to swim to shore, the reality star was in no fit state to continue.
He said: “I genuinely thought this would be the challenge for me to show what I f***ing got. And I got it wrong, I got it very wrong. I think my leg got a little bit caught in the bag and I went straight down onto the bag, knocked myself out and broke my ribs.”
Ahead of the terrifying leap, Pete said he wasn't nervous and believed his strong swimming skills would see him through.
READ MORE ON CELEB SAS
In fact, directing staff Mark 'Billy' Billingham even gave him a pep talk beforehand instructing him to take care of Ashley, who isn't as good a swimmer.
He continued: “I was unconscious in the water so I don't really remember much, just the rescue swimmers coming to get me and they flicked me over and then said, 'we need to get you in the boat'.
"I didn't want to get in the boat because if you start something, you have to finish it, so then I remember trying to swim back. The last thing I remember was trying to make sure Ash was all right. We got to shore and then I realised, 'f**k I've actually hurt myself here.'"
His exit from the show added insult to injury.
Most read in Reality
Pete had been relishing the opportunity to push himself to the limit, both mentally and physically, and was frustrated to miss out on some of the show's famous elements.
“I was gutted actually," he said. "This is a bit of a thing for me, it's like I've always wanted to do this show and the worst thing for me was to be taken out because that's something that I can't control.
"But being completely honest, they're a hundred percent right because I wouldn't have been able to carry on with my broken ribs. To have been out so early, I was absolutely gutted because it's a fail. And unfortunately now for me, I feel like I failed.
"It's something that will f**king haunt me because I just don't fail things. I don't say I'm going to do something and don’t do it, so I was genuinely so hurt, gutted, disappointed, f***ed off and angry at myself. And I still am, to be honest, even a year later. That was tough for me. I felt like I'd let a lot of people down, I felt like I'd let myself down.”
Honest Pete accepted that he wasn't as fit as some of his co-stars, but was adamant he'd never have handed in his arm band.
He may well get another chance to prove himself in a future series as he is more than willing to try it all again.
"One hundred percent, without a shadow of a doubt I'd do it tomorrow if they gave me another chance at the course," said Pete.
"I feel like I’ve got unfinished business and I failed as far as I'm concerned. I want to put that right. It was something that is genuinely going to haunt me. I think there are so many things that happen on that show that would have benefited me as a person.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Read More on The Sun
"Everyone who’s been on it said they came out a changed person. I think that's the thing that I'm most sad about - that I didn't get an opportunity for that too. I really felt like I was beginning, after just a few days, to understand a little bit more about myself and why I am the way I am. I think that's what I missed out on.
"I really think the course would have changed my life. So to leave the way I did just left me quite angry. It’s left more than just a bitter taste in my mouth, I’m truly gutted.”
4
Topics