Gareth Gates emerges as the champion of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins 2023
Among the singer's fellow contenders was Matt Hancock, who stood out for being a "very good liar."
This year's Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins champion, musician Gareth Gates, defeated former health secretary Matt Hancock, who was praised for being "really good at lying."
Started on the TV talent show Pop Idol, Gates became well-known and joined Hancock, TV personality Danielle Lloyd, Olympic track and field athlete Perri Shakes-Drayton, and Love Island star Teddy Soares in the finals of the military-style series on Channel 4.
After losing in I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! earlier this year, Hancock is participating in his second celebrity TV show but has not succeeded in winning.For participating on that program in January, Hancock lost his Conservative whip, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak chastised him for not allowing his constituents to speak.
A crucial step in the SAS selection process, the "resistance to interrogation" challenge was faced by the last five contestants in Sunday's Celebrity SAS finals.
A team of experts used harsh interrogation methods on them, including holding them in extremely stressful positions, all the while pretending that they were employed on the Asian Saola Survey, an animal welfare initiative.
Under questioning, Gates stuck to his story. "He buys time well, he's very considered, and he's genuinely an individual that's quite difficult to get upset with," the onlooker interrogating umpire added.
"Whenever I'm feeling in a dark place, I just always think of my beautiful daughter's face, smiling at me and saying, 'You can do this, Daddy,'" the singer said in a piece to camera.
As all of this was going on, Hancock concocted a convoluted history, which led the umpire to remark, "The truth is, he's pretty good at lying."
The West Suffolk MP commented, "Interrogation is something that is just part and parcel of my day job," in reference to the process. And maybe I'll become entirely untangled, but people have been asking me incredibly pushy and unfair questions. Did you get to know Piers Morgan?
Hancock's "arrogance" toward the interrogator later led to his restraint in an extremely stressful position.
Soares failed the task because he revealed to them early on that he was a member of the British special forces, breaking his cover story.
When the MP was instructed to cover the former Olympic athlete's head with a pail of icy water, Hancock and Shakes-Drayton were put to the test once more. Shakes-Drayton was taken off the course after she revealed their genuine goal and broke from the treatment.
Hancock had worked him up with his lies, the interrogator said, adding, "You fucking look down your nose at people like me with contempt." Before a bucket of cold water was dumped over him, the speaker said, "You've got no fucking power here, my pedigree chum."
Gates, Lloyd, and Hancock, the final three competitors, were put through a last endurance test meant to simulate fighting while under fire. They had to drag tires and haul logs through marshy areas while dressed in their whole outfits, and then they had to carry jerrycans up a desolate road.
The next task for each recruit was to hang for as long as they could from a bar. Hancock and Gates held on for one minute and ten seconds each, but Lloyd went out right away.
Viewers saw a tape of Gates, the 2002 Pop Idol runner-up to Will Young, saying, "When I was a 17-year-old boy, I entered a TV talent show," while he was suspended. I advanced to the final but lost. However, after twenty years, I wanted to show myself that I am resilient and capable of persevering all the way to the finish line, if not winning.
Gates looked ecstatic to hear that he was the sole competitor to finish this year's course successfully.