Interview with Anthea Turner – Recruit #5

Category: Interview

What made you sign up for SAS Who Dares Wins?

What was going on in my head at the time? I did it for me. I'm extremely lucky to be in television and be offered these experiences and just do something which is really going to push you and probably frighten you, like when I did The Jump.

 

Did you realise what you were letting yourself in for doing this show?

To be honest, I’m more of a Bear Grylls type person but I had seen bits of the last series because I wanted to watch Andrea McLean. But it was only when I said ‘yes’ I'd do it that I really looked at the show. I then binge watched the entire last series. The more I watched, the more I thought, "What the..." and I remember calling my agent and she said, "You're doing it. You can't do anything about it now. Sort yourself out." I must admit, I did arrive with a huge amount of trepidation.

 

What were you worried about?

The silly thing is the things that were most worrying me, when I got there, I didn't care two hoots about. The thing that most worried me, it's a girl thing, it's your home comforts. And yet when you get there you completely and utterly forget it. Those go out your head. You don't care at all. It was the last thing on my mind and I think we all have to come back with lessons from this and actually, the lesson is what you don't need, what really can live without. You'll think, "Oh, no, I could never do X, Y, Z." Yeah, you can. You'll be fine. It's fine.

 

When you got there and saw the other celebrities, what went through your head?

Oh my goodness me. I knew Brendan because we've worked together before. It was lovely to see Brendan there. Obviously it was great seeing my fellow Blue Peter presenter, Helen. They were the only two I really knew.

 

How did you feel being the oldest recruit?

Yeah, I was the oldest there but when you get an opportunity to do something like this there was no thought process, it was just “Yes, I’m going to have a go!”. To be honest, I knew what would be my downfall and I was right, which is my cardiovascular. If you have to do anything to prepare yourself for some of the things that you need to do in this series, you basically need to train for a marathon. What was designed to rile me was Ant constantly saying, “Come on, Grandma!” I remember looking at him and thinking, “I am actually old enough to have given birth to you. I’m not your grandma but I can be your mum.” Maturity helps in situations like this because I hadn’t gone in there to reaffirm things about myself.  The elixir of youth is not in a pot of cream, it’s your attitude.

 

What did you make of Ant the other DS staff?

They keep their distance. If anybody thinks that because it's celebrities taking part in the series, the DS will be all chummy when the cameras are off, they are not. They are exactly the same as you see them on camera. They keep a complete distance from us. We never saw them drop their guard.

 

Did it feel competitive amongst the celebrities?

Not hugely, but Lauren… have you met anybody quite so focused? Olympians have a different mentality.

 

Did you bond with anyone on the team?

I’ve got to be honest, my revelation from this whole experience was meeting Katie Price and realising how gorgeous she is outside of the other character she has. There's these two sides of Katie and meeting the real Katie Price was just lovely.

 

Do you think fans will see a different side to you on this show?

Oh, I don't know if you’ll see a different side because I've been around too long!

 

If anyone out there is thinking about doing the series next time, what would you say to them?

Oh my God, do it. You've got an opportunity. This is amazing to have been given the opportunity to do this, so if anyone else gets the chance then I urge them to take it.