Neighbours’ Natalie Bassingthwaighte second to exit SAS: Who Dares Wins

Neighbours actress and singer Natalie Bassingthwaighte has become the second celebrity to leave the latest series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.

The eighth series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins is currently airing on Channel 4 in the UK, and in a change to the usual format, this year has pitched seven Australian celebs against seven British celebrities.

The series sees famous faces from both sides of the world ditch their creature comforts for a condensed version of the SAS selection course, with their bodies and minds pushed to the limit.

On the Australian side are three familiar faces from the world of soaps.

Two Neighbours alumni are taking part in this year’s series – Ryan Moloney, who played Jarred ‘Toadfish’ Rebecchi from 1995 until late 2025, and Natalie Bassingthwaighte, who played Izzy Hoyland from 2003 until 2007, with returns in 2018 and 2022.

Natalie also hosted So You Think You Can Dance Australia, and served as a judge on The X Factor Australia and New Zealand.

Bassingthwaighte was also the lead singer of electro-pop band Rogue Traders between 2004 and 2008.

SAS: Who Dares Wins isn’t her first gruelling ordeal on reality TV, having already taken part in both I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! and The Amazing Race Australia.

From Home and Away is actor Axle Whitehead, who played Liam Murphy from 2009 until 2013.

Since leaving Summer Bay, Axle has appeared in the US version of Shameless, as well as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and hosted the Aussie version of gameshow The Wall.

He’s also an alternative rock singer, and appeared in the third season of The Masked Singer Australia, where he finished in third place.

The Australian soap trio are joined by Married At First Sight‘s Jessika Power, cricketer Brad Hodge, and Olympic swimmers Emily Seebohm and Mack Horton.

On the UK team are TV stars Dani Dyer and Gabby Allen, social media personalities Jack Joseph and Cole Anderson-James, rugby legend Ben Cohen, Gladiator and Olympian Toby Olubi, and cricketer Graeme Swann.

The first episode of SAS: Who Dares Wins saw the contestants ambushed as they were driven towards their camp, with bags pulled over their heads.

They were then forced to march blindfolded up a hill, when they were introduced to the ‘staff’ for the first time – Chief Instructor Billy Billingham MBE, and Directing Staff Jason Fox, Rudy Reyes and Chris Oliver.

The first task saw the contestants take part in an emergency evacuation drill. In pairs, they were seated in a section of a plane fuselage, which was lowered into the water.

They were asked to hold their breath underwater for thirty seconds, before calmly exiting the plane – which was still submerged – in an agreed order.

Natalie was in the second pair of contestants to take part, paired up with social media personality Jack Joseph. Despite Jack’s panic quickly setting in, the pair kept their composure for the full thirty seconds and exited the plane, passing the challenge.

Her Neighbours cast member Ryan was paired up with Dani Dyer, daughter of ex-EastEnders actor Danny Dyer. Ryan’s attempts to calm a panicked Dyer didn’t go well, and his frustration at her nerves saw him tell his partner to “fucking concentrate and switch on” in the moments before they entered the water.

Dani panicked within seconds of the plane being submerged, and both exited the plane almost immediately, failing the task.

Natalie’s hardest battle came in the first episode’s “milling” challenge, when she was forced to don boxing gloves and fight with fellow contestant, fitness expert Gabby Allen.

The DS encouraged the participants to fight using sheer violence and aggression, explaining that in the special forces it’s a method of getting over any resentment and enabling them to work closer with their fellow soldiers.

The experience left Natalie doubled over on the floor, coughing and retching, after enduring numerous blows to the head from Gabby.

When called in to talk to the DS staff one-on-one, Natalie admitted that she had found the tasks “fucking hard,” but that she liked to challenge herself with new things and prove to herself that she can do it.

She opened up on her struggles with her mental health, and her difficulties in coming to terms with finding herself in a relationship with a woman after her 17-year relationship with the father of her children.

Natalie’s final full task saw her and her fellow recruits faced with a task based on infiltrating hostile territory by any means necessary.

In teams of three, they had to race through gruelling terrain, dive into a ditch as explosions rang out, and crawl through the ditch to reach the enemy’s communication tower.

Along the way, they had to climb through long, narrow tunnels filled with dirt and debris, and crawl on their backs through a submerged water-filled tunnel.

Natalie was paired up with rugby player Ben and gladiator Toby, and Toby’s inability to complete the task saw the trio given a fail.

If at any point any of the contestants feel that they can’t go on, they are encouraged to hand in their armbands to the staff, which results in their exit from the competition.

In the challenge that would be her downfall, Natalie and the other recruits were ordered to head outside with their full backpacks and get into a press-up position, which they were told to hold.

The recruits soon began to struggle, and as they were asked to begin a circuit of burpees, then monkey bars, squat jumps, it became too much for reality TV star Jessika Power, and she became the first recruit to withdraw.

As the pressure increased, Natalie struggled on her next set of monkey bars, and as she was shouted at by DS Jason Fox, she reluctantly took off her armband and handed it over, becoming the second contestant – and second member of the Aussie team – to withdraw.

When asked why she chose to take part in this year’s series, Natalie explained: “I wanted to see what I was capable of, to be honest.

“I felt like I was given the opportunity a couple of years ago, and at the time I was terrified of the thought of the show. I’d watched it and thought, oh my God, no. The fighting, everything about it — I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the DS yelling. And at that point in my life, I didn’t think it would be beneficial for my mental health. I was working through a few things personally and just didn’t feel ready.

“This time around, though, I think I felt braver. Not that I thought I could do anything, but I felt like I’d done a lot of work on myself over the last couple of years, mentally and emotionally. Physically, I’ve had limitations for a long time — arthritic feet, I’m 50 — so that part hadn’t really changed. That wasn’t what made me want to do it more or less.

“It was more that I thought, wow, I’ve done so much emotional work — I wonder if that would be enough to get me through something like this. I also had this idea in my head of ’50 things before 50,’ and it doesn’t get much harder than Celebrity SAS Who Dares Wins. So I thought, alright, let’s give it a crack.”

Discussing her experience on the show, Natalie says she discovered: “that shouting and anger doesn’t push me to be the best version of myself. They just reaffirmed that I don’t like being yelled at and that I’m a lover not a fighter! I also learnt that I never would want to go to war.”

SAS: Who Dares Wins airs on Channel 4 in the UK on Sundays and Mondays at 9pm, and is available to stream on the Channel 4 website.

The show is expected to air in Australia under the title SAS: Australia vs England at some point in 2026, but no air date has yet been announced.

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