KIERON DYER – RECRUIT NUMBER 7
Category: Press Pack ArticleWhy did you sign up to the show?
I can remember watching the second season with Tony Bellew and I was just dramatically hooked, I was saying, “I could do this” and my Mrs and kids were going, "No chance, you can't deal with the cold. You can't deal with this. You can't deal with that." And I was like, "I know I could do this!” I texted my friend who used to be my agent, he's like a best friend now and just said, "Get me on the SAS show next season!”
Did you do any thing in preparation for going on the course?
So, when you know you're on the show they send you the boots that you need to break in. I'd run in the evenings in my boots. I'd run probably 5K with a 10-15kg vest on. I felt really fit, I was getting strong in the gym, which really helped me. I had about six weeks of intense training. I thought I couldn't have done anymore, but little did I know that when I got there, that all the running and the training that we'd done, meant absolutely jack shit really. It was just a waste of time, because running in a London park is nothing compared to the terrain in Scotland! You just cannot prepare for that, you cannot prepare for the cold. That's something I soon realised, the first day when we were on the bridge and they pulled the balaclavas off. I thought, "Oh my God, I'm not prepared for this. I see what the Mrs and kids were talking about!”
Was the cold something you were particularly worried about?
Yeah, when people come to my house, they always say it's a sauna. It's just constantly hot, I love being in hot weather. I just love feeling warm. I can't deal with the cold. We all had to quarantine together for a week before the show started and I told Saira and Jake how I can't deal with the cold, so they took me to this part of the sea, which just looked absolutely freezing. They're just jumping straight in and swimming around. It must've taken me probably, half an hour to get to my kneecaps, and I was like, "well, that's a start." Then I went back the next day and got down to my shoulders. So it was good that I went a week earlier because the cold, you just cannot prepare for that. Scotland is just a whole different planet of coldness! And I've lived in Newcastle for nine years and everyone talks about how cold that is. That is like summer, compared to Scotland!
How did you feel about the DS screaming in your face all the time?
I was always really intrigued about it, because another reason why I went on the show, is because I'm the under 23 coach at Ipswich. I'm always talking to the kids about the mental approach to the game, and the will to win, and how you never give up. So it's just great to see, like I said, the method behind their madness, and how they make you go an extra 10%. Obviously, we can't scream at our kids like that, 24/7, constantly. But I just love the idea of learning from the elite of the elite.
How did you find the gas challenge?
They completely tricked me with that because I thought when you go in the room with a gas mask, nothing could get through your mask. So then all of a sudden, I'm sucking on this gas. I literally thought I was going to pass out! So then I was freaking out and I could see the door, and the easy option was like, "I'm just going for the door." But I just thought, "They'll be able to resuscitate me. If I faint, I faint. I can't be seen to be coming out of this room." So that, was just the mindset they built in you.
You also had fall from a helicopter into the water, what was that like?
We used to have a swimming pool in Ipswich when I was a kid, growing up, that had a diving board 10 meters up. I could do like inward pikes and somersaults off the top board, even when I was 11. So I was always good. I could do backward dives, so I was quite looking forward to that challenge, because I thought, "Oh, that’ll be easy." But what made that challenge hard for me was you don't know how far you have to fall.
Did you have fun with the celebs in camp during what little down time you had?
Oh, yeah, it was amazing. There were some great times because honestly, you don't know whether to laugh or cry. Instead of crying, I think a lot of us just laughed and when you got Jake and people like that, there's clowns in there, it was quite funny. There was one time where we were full deep in conversation while drying off our clothes and I've dried off my boxers, and I've got them on my head, as you do, no idea why. And then we walked out and I'm going, "Fuck, my boxers. Where are my boxers?" So we're all searching for my boxers, all over the place. But they're on my bloody head. So that gave everyone a laugh!