SAS: Who Dares Wins star Jason 'Foxy' Fox has said he has previously pushed back against producers' “f***ing stupid” ideas for challenges on the show, as the brutal test of physical endurance returns to screens this evening.
The 45-year-old former British soldier said he rejected certain ideas from bosses as they weren't “authentic” to the Special Air Services experience.
Ahead of the seventh season premiere on Sunday, Foxy said that the showrunners have come to the instructors with a number of “mental ideas” for challenges on the Channel 4 hit show.
The SAS: Who Dares Wins instructor said: “The producers will always be like, ‘Ooh can we do this? And can we do that?; and we're like, ‘Well, we can do it, but we never f***ing did it’. ‘Why not?’ ‘Because it's stupid.’"
He continued: “We keep things very basic: abseiling, parachuting, skydiving, swimming. That's it. They have some f***ing mental ideas.”
Among the challenge ideas rejected in the past by instructors was the possibility of contestants jumping from one car onto another car on fire, Foxy said.
He continued: “The point being is we were told this is to be authentic – if they want it to be authentic then that's where we come into it, we help them remain authentic.
“They can say, 'What about this, this and this?' and we're like, 'Yeah, we can do that, that and that, but not that.'”
This comes after the new team fronting SAS: Who Dares Wins warn they have “brought the hammer” and say the seventh series will be as brutal as any previous ones.
Former chief instructor Ant Middleton had slammed the show for its health and safety policy and for being too “scripted” after being axed for misconduct.
But instructors Foxy and Mark “Billy” Billingham say the seventh run is more intense due to its filming location in the Jordanian desert, rather than Scotland.
Newcomers former US Special Forces staff Rudy Reyes and Remi Adeleke also bring new energy to the Channel 4 series.
Foxy and Billy said they have not heard from Middleton, but Billingham said he feels sure their ex-colleague will be watching.
“Ant probably feels, ‘it can’t go on without me’. But it can. The show gets harder,” he said.
“What you get is raw, real, it’s worked in the past. Don’t f***ing fix it if it ain’t broke. Anyone who steps on that course gets treated like an equal.
“We don’t look at gender, colour, race, it’s a flat platform you chose to come on to.”
Fox added: “Maybe those comments were a knee-jerk reaction. We’ve increased the intensity because of where we filmed it.”
SAS: Who Dares Wins returns to Channel 4 and All 4 on Sunday, April 10 at 9pm.
