Tough guy Ant Middleton defied military chiefs’ wishes to star in SAS: Who Dares Wins.
The Special Boat Service veteran said top brass ordered him not to take part in hit Channel 4 show.
After TV bosses asked him to be the show’s chief instructor in 2015, senior officers stepped in.
They feared Ant, right, and co-presenters, including Jason Fox, might breach the Official Secrets Act and put national security at risk.
He said: “The powers that be in London said, ‘You stay away from this’.
Ant Middleton defied military chiefs’ wishes to star in SAS: Who Dares Wins (Image: DAILY MIRROR)
“And everyone went back under their rocks and back into the shadows.
“We are bound to the Secrets Act for life so you can imagine when they got wind of it. Me and Foxy were looking at each other and I said to Foxy, ‘Look, I’m doing it’.”
The duo sat down with senior officers to tell them they planned to defy orders and go ahead with the show.
They feared Ant might breach the Official Secrets Act and put national security at risk (Image: c4)
And they finally reached an agreement for all episodes to be vetted by the military before broadcast. Ant, 39, added: “We came up with an agreement to move forward. Everything gets signed off by them though.
“As long as we don’t give away national security, which I would never want to do, or personal security for me and my colleagues, which again I would never want to do.
An agreement was reached for all episodes to be vetted by the military before being broadcast (Image: Channel 4)
“All we are doing is a fun and experimental TV show to see if normal people off the streets can have the potential to pass special forces selection. And the answer is no.”
There have been five series of the programme which pits contestants against harsh environments in a two-week training course based on Special Air Service selection.
And Ant revealed: “All we are doing is bringing a fresher look to it.
“We are the new generation of Special Forces soldiers.
“We are the most combat-hardened out there.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
