SAS Australia will return for 2023 at 7.30pm Monday, October 9 on Channel Seven and 7plus, with a new group of recruits descending on one of the toughest environments faced by Special Forces operatives: the Middle East.
For the first time on SAS Australia, the men and women will travel offshore to a secret base in the Middle East, where they will eat, sleep and train together in hot and arid conditions, with no allowances or exceptions made for their celebrity status or gender.
The Directing Staff
From being buried alive to launching live hand grenades, this year’s recruits will show up to face SAS Australia’s DS team led by Ant Middleton. Ant’s advice to the new recruits is simple: “If you are weak, easily offended or physically unfit, leave now!”
Ollie Ollerton will also be returning. There are two new DS this season, Jamie “Jay” Morton and Anthony “Staz” Stazicker.
Jamie “Jay” Morton is a former SAS operator with 14 years of distinguished military service: 10 within the UK Special Forces and four within the Parachute Regiment. A trained military mountain guide and DSV ski teacher, Jamie is fully equipped to perform tactical and non-tactical expeditions navigating the extremes of mountainous environments worldwide. Jamie has traversed some of the world’s highest mountains, proudly reaching the summit of Mount Everest twice.
With an impressive 13 years of distinguished and decorated military service, Anthony “Staz” Stazicker was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for combat actions in 2013. He left the UK Special Forces in 2018 and launched the technical clothing company, ThruDark, a top-selling UK high-performance outerwear brand.
Speaking of the two new DS, Ant Middleton said “I went through Royal Marine training and my Special Forces career with Staz. Staz is a knowledgeable hurricane of modern- day warfare and he doesn’t suffer fools. Jay is a well-respected Special Forces soldier who featured in an early season of
SAS: Who Dares Wins with me. He has a wicked sense of humour and a stealth-like calmness.”
The Recruits
Former world boxing champion Anthony Mundine, ‘Cocaine Cassie’, Olympians Stephanie Rice, Peter Bol and Matthew Mitcham, Balinese princess Lindy Klim, Thai cave rescue hero Dr Craig Challen and Brownlow medallist Jason Akermanis are just some of the 14 Aussie celebrities who have volunteered for a series of physical and psychological tests from the real SAS selection process.
The star recruits set to take on SAS Australia in 2023 are:
Abbey Holmes, 32 – AFL Field Commentator
Anthony Mundine, 47 – World Champion Boxer
Boyd Cordner, 30 – Retired NRL Star
Cassie Sainsbury, 28 – Convicted Drug Smuggler
Dr Craig Challen, 57 – Thai Cave Rescue Hero
Craig McLachlan, 57 – Actor
Jason Akermanis, 46 – AFL Hall of Famer
Lindy Klim, 45 – Balinese Princess
Mahalia Murphy, 29 – International Rugby Star
Matthew Mitcham, 35 – Olympic Gold Diver
Peter Bol, 29 – Olympic Runner
Stephanie Rice, 34 – Olympic Gold Swimmer
Tim Robards, 40 – OG Bachelor
Zima Anderson, 25 – Actress
The Course
Course facts for 2023:
• SAS Australia teamed up with the Jordanian Armed Forces and the Jordanian Royal Air Force, who provided the production with military personnel, military-grade weapons, and military vehicles for various tasks.
• Jordanian Royal Air Force Blackhawks were flown for over 25 hours throughout the series facilitating the tasks.
• Over 4,000 rounds of AK-47 blank ammunition were fired during the series.
• The recruits fired over 2,500 paintball pellets.
• 76 smoke grenades were used during tasks both on and off the base.
• Over 25kg of C4 was detonated during the series, resulting in some of the show’s massive explosions.
• 48 flash bangs (stun grenades) were used to stun and disorient the recruits during tasks.
• 17 venomous Lionfish were spotted during tasks filmed in the Gulf of Aqaba.
• SAS Australia worked closely alongside and was escorted by the local Bedouin people, who are the custodians of the Wadi Rum Desert.
• The recruits are filmed 24/7 with fixed-rig cameras in the barracks and handheld cameras outside. Sixty rigged cameras were utilised on the
base to capture every move made by the recruits. Off-rig crew consisted of a team of up to seven “running” cameras.
• 2 drones and one racer drone were used to film the series. The racer drone was meticulously constructed and employed to follow recruits through tactical-based tasks.
• 18 tonnes of lighting equipment was shipped to Jordan and employed to illuminate the base, mess hall, dormitories, parade square and mirror room.
• 12 tonnes of technical equipment was transported to Jordan and used to set up the base.
• 10km of fibre cable was
used to transmit footage from the base to the control room. This fibre cable enabled the control room crew to manage all aspects of the base, including cameras, audio and lighting.
• Over 200 hours of on-rig footage was recorded on set.
• The recruits had no access to hot water on the base.
• Recruits were only provided with a ‘short drop’ toilet, 06 which they were responsible for cleaning and maintaining. There were no toilet stops
when travelling to each task, the recruits had to “go bush.”
• A recruit can quit by Voluntary Withdrawal, or VW. Four recruits left the course within the first two days.
• The temperature ranged from -2oC in windchill to 40oC.
• The commute to Wadi Rum, Jordan, took 36 hours from Sydney, Australia.
SAS Australia 2022
Last season, Darius Boyd, Millie Boyle and Riana Crehan were the recruits to pass final selection during the finale of SAS Australia, the only recruit in the final to not pass was Locky Gilbert.
See Also: SAS Australia 2022 Finale: Which recruits passed final selection?
SAS Australia is produced by Screentime, a Banijay Group company, based on a Minnow Films format. The new season premieres later this year on Channel Seven and 7plus.