What did you miss?
Rachel Johnson has revealed the advice Matt Hancock gave her before going on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins – and why she chose to ignore it.
The journalist called on her brother Boris Johnson’s former cabinet for tips on taking on the gruelling Channel 4 show and said that ex health secretary Hancock had told her: “I did really well, of course”.
Johnson also added that she didn’t think Boris would be tuning in to the reality show on Sunday as she didn’t think he knew anything about it.
What, how, and why?
When Rachel Johnson signed up to her latest reality TV series Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, she turned to a former member of her brother Boris’ cabinet for advice.
Last year, ex health secretary Matt Hancock was a controversial signing for the programme which sees famous recruits take on tough challenges inspired by the SAS selection process.
Johnson shared with ITV’s Lorraine that Hancock had boasted about how well he had done – but she did not take him up on his offer of training ahead of the show.
Read more: Celebrity SAS
She said: “My principle with these shows is I don’t watch them before I go on and I don’t watch them afterwards either because that way madness lies. I probably wouldn’t have done this show if I’d watched it before because it’s too hardcore, it’s next level.”
But she added: “I did call Matt Hancock and he said, ‘oh well I did really well, of course’. I said I’m not expecting to do well, I’m just expecting to get out alive, and he said it’s brutal but amazing.
“Before he hung up, he said, ‘shall we go on a training run?’ and I said no, I’m going to Wimbledon.”
Lorraine host Christine Lampard asked her: “Can we get Boris in there next time?” but Johnson refused to be drawn on the subject of her brother, replying: “No comment.”
The Only Way Is Essex star Bobby Norris, who also features in the Celebrity SAS cast, asked: “Will Boris watch it on Sunday?”
But she shut down the question again, saying: “I don’t think my family’s aware of it, I’m afraid.”
What else did Rachel Johnson say about Celebrity SAS?
Johnson took part in Celebrity Big Brother in 2018 and said she had vowed never to do another show of the same sort – but couldn’t turn down the opportunity to go through gruelling training.
She said: “I was in the hairdresser and I was looking at my phone and this email came through from my agent saying Celebrity SAS is wondering whether you would like to do it. I had this urge to do it and I couldn’t believe it because I’d said to my whole family I’ll never do another show with celebrity in the title.
“I said I can’t do it if it involves heights or extreme cold and they said you’ll be fine. We ended up in New Zealand in mid winter above the snow line. In camp it was so cold the showers froze. There weren’t loos anyway so they couldn’t freeze.”
Norris added that the extreme conditions had made the famous cast easier to get on with, explaining: “A lot of reality shows they want the drama and the friction and for people to have a ding dong. There wasn’t time and it’s literally survival. It’s a cliche but we were a family.”
Lorraine airs on ITV1 at 9am on weekdays.