EXCLUSIVE: Channel 4 is resting SAS: Who Dares Wins for the foreseeable future as it “shifts focus” to the celebrity version.
An extended eight-episode run of Celebrity SAS will start filming in the coming weeks but the original ‘civilian’ version, which most recently aired its eighth season, will likely not return to screens for some time, if at all.
A Channel 4 spokesman said the decision was being made “due to the huge success of Celebrity SAS” and insiders stressed the move isn’t being made for cost-cutting reasons.
“We have shifted our focus to prioritise this strand,” added the spokesman. “As a result, a longer run eight part series is due to commence filming in the summer whilst ‘Civilian’ SAS will be rested.”
The latest season of Minnow Films’ ‘civilian’ version finished in February and was watched by around 1.5M viewers per episode, while last year’s celebrity version secured approximately 2M for each instalment. AJ Pritchard, Ferne McCann, Calum Best and Maisie Smith were victorious in the latter.
Today’s news comes around two years after the UK ‘civilian’ version was beset by scandal. Chief Instructor Ant Middleton was stood down in 2021 due to his “personal conduct” following controversial comments about the Covid-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter. He was replaced by Rudy Reyes.
Elsewhere, a U.S. version titled Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test launched on Fox earlier this year and has already been renewed.
Channel 4 insiders stressed that the decision to rest SAS: Who Dares Wins is not budget related but is about performance, and is unrelated to the cancellation of the network’s Four Weddings reboot, which Deadline revealed late last week.
Four Weddings’ cancellation sparked frenzied speculation over the state of Channel 4’s finances amidst declining ad revenues, a cost-of-living crisis and splashy recent bets such as Studio Lambert’s 18-part Rise and Fall. The shock move came just prior to the show entering production and around two-dozen production staff had to be given a two-week compensation package.
Things have worsened for Channel 4 this week after reports revealed that CEO Alex Mahon could receive the highest annual income for a CEO in the network’s history this year if she is awarded the maximum bonus payout possible from a retention scheme.