Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins 2025 saw this queer contestant dramatically quit on day one

The seventh season of Channel 4’s military-style reality series Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins is already down to three queer contestants from four, after one dramatically quit in episode one.

The bootcamp reality show sees 14 stars sign up to take part in a series of gruelling training challenges that mimic those used on the actual UK Special Forces selection course. 

In episode one of the new series, which began airing last night (3 August), inured instructor Billy Billingham sent 14 famous faces straight into the deep-end – literally.

Among the 14 stars are queer singer-songwriter Lucy Spraggan, non-binary Drag Race UK favourite Bimini, pansexual rapper Lady Leshurr, and former Pineapple Dance Studios star Louie Spence.

The episode saw the stars plunged into deep water and forced to swim towards a speed boat that would pick them up and take them to the next task. It was at this point that one of the celebs, S Club singer Hannah Spearritt, pulled the plug on her time on Celebrity SAS 2025.

Down to 13 stars already, the show continued with task number two, where they had to rescue three hostages from a building before blowing it up.

Yet the challenges appeared too much for reality TV regular Louie Spence, who failed to reach the boat, and then blew his building up with two hostages still inside. 

“I want to do an immediate withdrawal, I just don’t have the conviction, and I feel as though I’m not dedicated enough,’ he told the show’s staff.

He took his armband off and declined the opportunity to rejoin the group, and thus left the series for good.

Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain this morning (4 August) Spence further explained why he decided to quit, saying that he felt like he was “suffocating” wearing a life jacket in task one.

“It was no good and I thought I’d be good at the swimming task. I swim every day, I enjoy swimming, but, you know what it was, you have to put a life jacket on.

“He (directing staff, Rudy Reyes) went out like a fish in water, with no life jacket. So when you jump in, it gives you a bit of drag.

“And I said to them I want a tight jacket, because I thought I won’t get as much drag. Well, I was suffocating. It was too tight. That’s why I didn’t make it to the boat,” he said.

Spence shared that he decided to take part in Celebrity SAS 2025 as he had stopped taking his antidepressants at the time and felt “strong in mind”.

“I upped my physicality, so I thought it’d be a challenge to see, not being on medication, how I deal with this kind of situation, and, in fact, the mental side of it, I felt fine with.

“I wasn’t frightened about jumping in the water, all of those kind of things. It was the physical [side]. I just felt as though I didn’t have the physical capacity. And I was surrounded by these people who were so enthusiastic, and it was a big team that you had to play with.

“It’s all part of being a team. And I didn’t feel as though I was going to contribute to being part of that team.”

The first episode of Celebrity SAS 2025 also saw Bimini take some time out to talk about their experience of growing up as a queer person in Norfolk.

Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins continues on Monday 4 August at 9pm on Channel 4.

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