The SAS has begun recruiting women for the elite special force.
The move finally brings to an end the Who Dares Wins regiment’s all-male macho reputation.
It comes after rules were changed allowing women to serve in “close- ground combat” roles.
But the real SAS will be a lot tougher than Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins – the show on which Aberdeen surgeon Louise McCullough, 40, last year became the first female winner.
A source said: “This is nothing like the TV programme. This is real deal.
“Instead of eight days in front of a camera this is eight months of secret training.”
An advert listing job opportunities in the SAS Reserve has appeared on the Army’s website and courses start in June.
It says women volunteers between 17 and 42 must be prepared “to commit to intense and extended train-ing demands”.
Rookies face arduous weekend marches against the clock with a final endurance test.
Those who make the grade will have six months’ instruction before a two- week assessment.
Only then will successful candidates be awarded the prized beige beret.
After being “badged” SAS they will then be trained in escape, evasion, use of parachutes, specialist communications and weapons.
Reservists, who get £110 a day plus a tax-free bonus, serve with regular colleagues and were deployed in Helmand to train Afghan Special Forces.
The source said: “This will be the first time female recruits have been allowed to volunteer for the course and we know there are some strong women out there waiting to step forward.”
In 2008 three SAS reservists died when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.
