Gareth Gates revealed he suffered an awful encounter with former MP Matt Hancock after he tried to spark a conversation while they were ‘midway’ through a poo. The singer, 39, revealed that during their time on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, he once had to relieve himself next to fellow recruit and former Conservative, Matt. Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Gareth, who won the show, said the experience of going to the toilet next to a politician in the jungle was ‘really humbling’. While promoting his upcoming tour, Gareth Gates Sings Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons, he said: ‘I was sort of, trying to focus on the task at hand. ‘But he just wanted to chat. And I was like, ”Man, will you be quiet while I try and go.”’ And the grit was proven to be worth it as he was crowned the only contestant strong enough to pass all their courses. Gareth, who came runner-up to Will Young in Pop Idol in 2002, broke down in tears when he successfully completed the show. He beat fellow recruits Matt and Danielle Lloyd, 39, after the other sixteen celebs failed to make the final. Chief Instructor, Billy Billingham MBE QCB and his team of Directing Staff (DS), Foxy (Jason Fox), Rudy Reyes and Chris Oliver decided that Gareth was the only celebrity who had the mental and physical strength and resilience to pass the course. After his name was announced a shocked Gareth become emotional and said: ‘Thank you, staff. Wow. Thank you.’ Speaking to The Mirror after the win, which was filmed in October 2022, Gareth revealed the show’s ‘unbearable torture’ led him to undertake five weeks of therapy. He told the publication: ‘I had to have quite a bit of therapy afterwards and the show is great for that. When you come out, you’re checked over and I had about five weeks worth of counselling and therapy because it really, really did affect me.’ He also gave an insight into the hardest part of the process and described the final interrogation as ‘unbearable torture’. Gareth said: ‘After the whole nine or 10 days we were in there and the sleep deprivation, being stretched physically, emotionally, mentally, the thing that tipped me over the edge was the interrogation. He later described the win and glory as ‘cathartic’ over two decades after losing to Will Young in 2002’s Pop Idol. ‘I thought at last, I’ve actually won a talent TV show and not came second this time. It was a massive weight off my shoulders. I’ve finally redeemed myself from being the biggest loser in the UK back in 2002.’ In the Celebrity SAS finale, Gareth, Matt, Danielle, Teddy Soares and Perri Shakes-Drayton took part in a ‘resistance to interrogation’ challenge, which saw them interrogated by a specialist team while using a cover story that they were working for an animal welfare project. Gareth impressed the interrogators as he kept his cool under pressure, with the onlooking interrogation umpire noting: ‘He buys time well, he’s very considered, he’s genuinely an individual that’s quite difficult to get upset with.’ They also noted that Matt was ‘really good at lying’, while Teddy was withdrawn from the course after he broke his cover during interrogation. After being grilled by the interrogators, Matt and Perri were given an extra challenge, with MP Matt told to pour a bucket of ice-cold water over former Olympian Perri’s head. Perri was then removed from the course after she too broke her cover. Gareth, Danielle and Matt then had a final challenge designed to replicate combat under fire, which saw them tasked with carrying heavy loads through a swamp and up a hill. The gruelling challenge didn’t stop there, with the recruits then told to hang from a bar for as long as they could. First to fall was Danielle, who barely made it a few seconds, while Matt lasted one minute, 10 seconds and Gareth a further 10 seconds after. Gareth was overcome with emotion when it was revealed he was the only recruit to successfully complete the course. During the episode Gareth reflected on what it meant to pass this very special, condensed version of SAS selection: ‘It was a really crazy experience. ‘I think winning, or, passing was amazing but being the only one really meant a lot to me. Realising that this is real for these DS, was really eye opening. ‘We’re just here creating a TV show but this is what they’ve had to do for real. I just had huge respect for them, that they have to go through this for real whilst protecting our country.’ When asked what made him stronger than all the others, he responded: ‘In the end, I think I was just mentally strong as well. You can train as hard as you can for the physical element of it. But I think it’s the mental resilience really gets people through to the end.
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