Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins contestant ‘betrayed’ by producers as he’s ‘forced to punch female co-star’ in fight that left him ‘spiralling and unable to string a sentence together’

The male contestant on the new series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins said he felt ‘betrayed’ by producers after he was ‘forced’ to punch a female contestant in the upcoming episode.

Social media star Jack Joseph, 25, claimed he went into a psychological ‘spiral’ after being forced to hit Olympian Emily Seebohm, 33, despite telling Channel 4 bosses he could not cope with the task.

Footage seen by the Daily Mail ahead of Sunday’s broadcast shows the comedy content creator punching the retired Australian swimmer to the ground during a ‘milling’ mission.

The challenge, which left other celebrities gasping in shock, required the pair to throw non-stop punches on command, stopping only when instructed.

A Channel 4 spokesman said: ‘SAS: Who Dares Wins is TV’s toughest challenge yet. Milling is a long-standing and integral part of the process.

‘New members sign up for the show knowing they will take part in tasks that will push them outside their comfort zone, and every member is treated equally regardless of their gender.

Celebrity SAS: Who Dares to Win returns on Sunday, January 4 at 21:00

‘At any point candidates may choose not to participate in an assignment and voluntarily withdraw from the course.’

But speaking to the Mail, Joseph said the mission, which will be broadcast to millions as part of Channel 4’s flagship military reality series, was a ‘real-life nightmare’.

‘You basically have to do whatever they tell you and they scream in your face, they say, ‘We don’t care who it is, just hit them,” he said.

‘They say, ‘Go straight towards the nose, go straight towards the face’, I thought that wouldn’t happen.’

Joseph said the pressure of being forced to continue despite his objections caused his thoughts to unravel.

‘I felt like I had no control over my brain; “It was just spiraling and spiraling and spiraling,” he said.

‘Negative thoughts were growing like a snowball and I couldn’t get them out of my head.

‘I wish I could tell you how my brain worked in this scenario because my brain got into a state where I couldn’t even string together a single sentence.

Footage seen by the Daily Mail ahead of Sunday’s broadcast shows the comedy content creator punching Olympian Emily Seebohm to the ground during a ‘milling’ mission.

‘It was like a real-life nightmare. ‘I felt very bad, especially afterwards.’

The social media star, who has 4.4 million followers on TikTok, said the situation was particularly upsetting because she clearly ticked off the script during a pre-show interview.

‘They asked me what will leave you in the interview, I watched all the TV series before, that’s why I said doing business against a woman,’ he said.

‘I guess they decided it was a good way to kick me out of the show early, so attack my weakness.

‘It’s hard for me because I don’t consider myself a celebrity. ‘I think this is a huge opportunity for me and I didn’t want to leave the show in two hours.’

Joseph said he felt ‘betrayed’ by the program as he repeatedly stated that he was uncomfortable with the task and that he was the only male contestant at the time instructed to hit a woman.

‘I felt betrayed because I said I didn’t want to do it, they made me do it and I felt absolutely terrible,’ she said. ‘All I could think about was, I came here, it’s a TV show and you’re making me do it on TV.’

‘To be honest, I was angry,’ he added. ‘But then there’s no place to go crazy, there’s no place to go crazy there. ‘They don’t care, nobody cares there.’

Joseph insisted that he did everything possible to avoid harming Ms. Seebohm by deliberately aiming at her head guard rather than at Ms. Seebohm’s face in the hope of stopping the fight.

However, even though months have passed since the shooting, the 25-year-old actor said that the incident is still not solved.

‘To be honest, I don’t think the problem is really solved,’ he said. ‘I just have to live with it. There was no other option.”

Joseph said he felt ‘betrayed’ by the program as he repeatedly stated that he was uncomfortable with the task and that he was the only male contestant at the time instructed to hit a woman.

Ms Seebohm, one of Australia’s most decorated swimmers who competed in four Olympic Games, told the Daily Mail exclusively that she, too, found the ordeal distressing.

‘I was quite upset about this,’ he said. ‘I don’t like fighting at all. I can definitely defend myself, but I find the physical stuff really difficult.

‘I knew I didn’t want to fight and I knew he didn’t want to fight either,’ he added. ‘That’s why it was so uncomfortable for both of us.’

Ms Seebohm said Joseph’s distress was obvious during the mission and he repeatedly stated that he did not want to continue.

‘I feel bad for Jack because he didn’t want to do it, it was like he wanted to stop,’ she said. ‘I have nothing against him and I know he doesn’t want to do this.’

‘He was physically upset,’ he added. ‘As if he felt ill.’

Ms. Seebohm said she immediately knew she would likely be paired with a male member after noticing the imbalance in numbers.

‘I counted, so there were three Australian girls,’ he said. ‘When the British walked in I noticed immediately that there were only two girls. I knew at that moment: If we do the milling, I will definitely be going up against a man.’

This isn’t the first time Channel 4 has come under fire for airing scenes of male contestants hitting women on the programme; In 2022, Pete Wicks faced Jennifer Ellison during the milling challenge.

In an interview at the time, the TOWIE star said: ‘I don’t know if I could fight a bird,’ adding that he hated the idea of ​​someone fighting their mother.

The mission was overseen by former SAS sergeant Mark ‘Billy’ Billingham MBE, who appeared in the Channel 4 soap for a long time and denied claims the scene amounted to domestic violence.

“This isn’t about a man and a woman, it’s about an enemy,” he told the Daily Mail. ‘Milling is the only thing that represents real war, real war without shooting each other.’

‘I’ve seen women beating men, it’s okay in the public eye, right?’ he said. ‘For feminists, yes, we live in a world of equal rights, women can defend themselves. Women will do this job.’

This isn’t the first time Channel 4 has come under fire for airing scenes of male contestants hitting women.

In 2022, viewers of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins saw Pete Wicks break down in tears after being confronted by actress Jennifer Ellison during the milling challenge.

In an interview at the time, the TOWIE star said: ‘I don’t know if I could fight a bird,’ adding that he hated the idea of ​​someone fighting their mother.

Ms Ellison, 42, said in the interview: ‘I’m all for equal opportunities and all that, but I’m a bit afraid of fighting with a man because they’re stronger than you and bigger than you.’

The brutal fight ended with Wicks, 37, left shaken and upset by hitting him in the head.

The program continued to air such scenes in both celebrity and non-celebrity formats.

In 2019, one of the first women to take part in the SAS: Who Dares Wins claimed she was ‘grateful’ after being punched in the face by a man during a boxing mission.

Midwife Louise Gabbitas, then 29, deliberately chose to confront a male contestant and punched him in the face several times before collapsing to the ground.

That year marked the first time women were allowed to compete in the show’s four-year history, following the Ministry of Defense’s decision to open front-line combat roles, including the SAS, to female soldiers.

Three years later, Channel 4 viewers were left horrified once again when Lauren Calvert, 31, was knocked to the ground by a heavy punch from her male rival during the same task.

The footage shows him falling to the ground, visibly exhausted and beaten.

Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins will be available to watch and watch live on Channel 4 on Sundays and Mondays at 9pm from 4 January.