Pete Wicks airlifted from mountain after collapsing on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins

Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins recruit Pete Wicks had to be airlifted to safety after collapsing on the Channel 4 reality show.

The Strictly Come Dancing star, 36, is competing in the brutal programme for a second time after he was forced to withdraw in 2022.

However, journalist Rachel Johnson, Boris Johnson’s sister, told and other press he suffered another medical incident during his comeback.

The 59-year-old said: ‘Pete Wicks was medevacked off the mountain. He collapsed.’

Fellow recruit and Geordie Shore star Marnie Simpson, 32, added: ‘I felt bad for Pete because coming back the second time, there was so much pressure on him to do even better than the first time so he pushed himself way too far.’

On Celebrity SAS two years ago, Pete was forced to quit when he jumped out of a helicopter into a lake, knocking himself unconscious with his backpack as he hit the water face-down at full speed.

Speaking about the incident, Pete previously said: ‘I genuinely thought this would be the challenge for me to show what I f****** got and I got it wrong, I got it very wrong. I think my leg got a little bit caught in the bag and I went straight down onto the bag, knocked myself out, and broke my ribs.

‘I felt dazed and confused. I was struggling to move my upper body. Basically, I think where I’d hit the bag, and I think just the impact of being unconscious and everything else, I was very confused.

‘I didn’t really know exactly what was going on and even moving my arms was quite painful, just because the pressure that was on my ribs and everything, so it just wasn’t nice. It was just a strange, strange experience.’

He said his departure would ‘haunt’ him and he was ‘gutted, hurt, disappointed and angry’ by his departure as he ‘doesn’t fairly things.’

Pete added: ‘There was no way I was ever going to hand my armband in. I knew I never would, so to go out the way I did really hurt. To be withdrawn because you’re physically unable to carry on for something that was an unfortunate accident, I just found really, really tough.’

After the accident, the Channel 4 show’s chief medical officer medically withdrew Pete because he needed to have a chest X-ray.

Last month Pete, who is also competing on Strictly with professional partner Jowita Przystal, said his ribs were ‘still broken.’

Talking about his injury on his Staying Relevant podcast with best friend and I’m A Celebrity winner Sam Thompson, Pete previously said he was ‘worried’ about Strictly rehearsals, saying: ‘I’m 36, I haven’t been to the gym in ages.’

He said he’s keen not to get further injured before the BBC show begins while his three broken ribs are still on the mend, adding: ‘My ribs are still broken, which is going to be a pain.’

It was previously claimed that Pete taking part in Strictly left Channel 4 bosses ‘fuming’, as SAS: Who Dares Wins returns in the same week as Strictly.

‘Channel 4 were fuming when Pete was revealed as part of this year’s Strictly cast,’ a source told The Sun.

‘It’s the second time they’ve been screwed over by another reality show.

‘After Pete was knocked unconscious and broke his ribs in 2022’s series, his return to try and pass selection was a big deal and the first time [ex-Special Forces lead instructor] Billy Billingham and the directing staff have allowed a celeb to try out twice.’

The source added: ‘Bosses wanted his to be one of the main storylines on the show, a real redemption arc, but now they’ve been trumped by Strictly.’

Pete joins the likes of former Love Island star and professional basketball player Ovie Soko and ex-professional boxer Anthony Ogogo on Celebrity SAS.

Former Olympic gymnast Ellie Downie will also be taking part, as will reality TV star Bianca Gascoigne, former England rugby captain Chris Robshaw, and John Barrowman among others.