Meet the Directing Staff: Billy Billingham, Chief Instructor

19 January 2023

Billy Billingham - Chief Instructor 

Billy Billingham MBE QCB, is a highly decorated military leader, serving over 20 years in the SAS. He joined the Parachute Regiment in 1983 and held numerous positions ranging from Patrol Commander for worldwide operational tours through to training Instructor.

In 1991, Billy passed SAS selection, joining 22 SAS - B squadron as a Mountain Troop specialist. Reaching the rank of SAS Sergeant Major, Billy has been responsible for training, planning and executing strategic operations at the highest level around the globe.

Billy is a certified Special Forces and Counter Terrorist Sniper Instructor, Advanced Evasive Driving Instructor, Tracking/Jungle Warfare/Navigation Instructor, Demolition/Sabotage Instructor, Ski Mountaineering/Rock Climbing/Abseiling/Ice climbing Instructor, Combat Survival/RTI Instructor, Counter Terrorist Instructor and has worked as a Patrol Medic/Trauma Life Support agent for five hospital attachments.

He received the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery and the MBE for his outstanding service as the SAS Ground Commander for the London 2005 attacks and for leading several internationally renowned hostage rescues.

Following his military career, Billy became a bodyguard for some of the world’s most high-profile celebrities. He travelled the world as Head of Security for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and protected Hollywood A-Listers including Sir Michael Caine, Russell Crowe, Sean Penn and Tom Cruise.

You’re the new Chief Instructor this year, in the punishing Vietnamese jungle. Talk us through how your military experience makes you most qualified to step up to this role, in this new series
My military career started in the jungle! It was back in 1984 in the unforgiving Belize jungle.

I have served operationally in the jungle and as the Senior Military Instructor in the World's #1 international jungle training school in Brunei. There is one truth about the jungle - it does not like you. It wants to bite, sting, and fall on you from a great height.

When Channel 4 decided to take the course into JUNGLE HELL, into one of the most brutal jungles in the world – Vietnam - we knew we had to get this course right!

Having spent over half of my 27-year career in the jungle, I knew I could no longer steer the ship from the back. I needed to take the reins and use my knowledge and experience to take the course to a new level.

My knowledge and experience are second to none. I served as a DS in the parachute regiment and on actual SAS selection. Furthermore, I was in charge of jungle schools in five jungle environments around the world.

We wanted this to be the most authentic, professional, and demanding course to date, so with my unprecedented jungle warfare experience, it made sense to move me to the position of Chief Instructor.

Will you be tailoring the course to any particular mission from your military career?
The course was devised from one of my first experiences of operating in the jungle. I will take the recruits on a similar journey from feeling claustrophobic to being paralysed by fear and tasting the dangers of this brutal environment, to learning how to navigate and embrace the unforgiving terrain.

What experience will you bring to this particular course and how different do you think the series will feel with you as Chief?
There is no substitute for experience. I've been responsible for training, planning, and executing strategic SAS operations at the highest level around the globe, and particularly in jungle warfare. As a result, I'm leading from the front. This series will feature the most authentic leadership, training and scenarios gained from my real-life experience.

This year is going to look very different to previous series. What’s different and what can the recruits expect?
The jungle is a total sensory overload and we’re taking the recruits into JUNGLE HELL this series. It doesn't matter how often you have heard about it in war stories or seen it in TV programmes or films - there is nothing like experiencing it. Visually, it's incredibly intimidating, because everything looks the same. The smells are unlike anything you have ever known. The sensations of extreme heat and humidity are draining. The noise from the trees and creatures is often deafening, leaving little space to find tranquillity in your mind.

Any surprises?
This course is a true survival footing from the start. It will start in a serial mode, tackling the environment, the climate, the creatures, and of course, the DS! As Chief Instructor, I will bring the fear of the unknown and be unwavering in challenging the recruits physically and mentally.

What do recruits need to do to make it to the end? What are you looking for in order for the recruits to pass Selection?
The bar is set high and will not falter by 1% of the world's best 1%.

What advice do you have for the new recruits joining this series?
Each recruit will have to give 100% all the time. The recruits will be challenged on their capability and pushed a little further! They must be prepared to go physically, emotionally, and mentally beyond any place they have ever been.

We are not looking for an image! We are not looking for the fastest or the strongest. We are looking for individuals who can show resilience, integrity, grit, and determination. We want to find the recruit who is an authentic version of themselves so that when everyone and everything around them is falling apart, they can think outside the box and find a solution, not an excuse! And finally, we are looking for a person who we can train to be an operator and trust side by side.

Be who you really are! Don't try to bullshit the DS, play the ego game, or look for excuses. We get a million excuses - we only want results! Believe in yourself, and don't be afraid to fall! It's how you recover that we are interested in.

You have Chris joining as newest member of the DS. Having served as an SAS: Who Dares Wins DS for so many years, what advice do you have for him?
Having Chris support me and the rest of the DS will, without a doubt, make this the most brutal show to date. I know Chris brings a proven operational past, as I was his Chief Instructor during Special Forces training over a decade ago.

What do you think Chris will bring to the series?
Chris will bring new individual talent and valuable knowledge from which the DS and recruits will benefit.

When did your paths cross during your time in the military?
I have known Chris for a long time. Fifteen years ago, Chris was my actual recruit. I had the pleasure of teaching him jungle warfare and tracking skills when I was the Senior Military Instructor at The British Army Jungle Warfare Training School in Brunei. Having him on my team for this course and having his support will bring our experience together full-circle.

Will it be tougher than previous series?
Every time we do the course, it gets tougher and better, based on the lessons learned from the ever-changing experiences. We follow the ethos of the real SAS - the unrelenting pursuit of excellence.

What new tasks are you introducing?
We have many new tasks, including a hostage threat in a built-up environment, unconventional abseiling, instinct patrol, and close-quarter battle decision-making.

In stark contrast to the previous series, you are taking the recruits to JUNGLE HELL, filming in the Vietnam jungle. How do you think the recruits will cope with that?
This will be a new dimension in challenges for the recruits. Vietnam is an extraordinary type of jungle and this really is JUNGLE HELL. It's very mountainous, with challenging terrain under a humid canopy, creating claustrophobia and fear. It's home to some of the most deadly creatures on the planet, combined with unpredictable weather systems, including typhoons and flash flooding.

How will you be adapting the course to create a JUNGLE HELL, with an authentic Vietnam jungle warfare experience?
We will use this jungle for more psychological reasons and military tasking based on its brutal war-fighting history.

How will the environment in Vietnam compare to last year’s harsh Jordanian desert?
There is no comparison to the Jordan desert plain. The jungle is mentally petrifying due to the lack of visual awareness, the noise of baiting creatures, and the very wet heat making the recruits uncomfortable day and night.

What will make this course JUNGLE HELL and more punishing than ever before?
The jungle will become most people's nightmare. If your personal admin isn't good, your body and mind will rot in a very short space of time.

Which is tougher – hot or cold weather? And how do you think the Vietnam humidity will affect the recruits’ performance?
The SAS train in every environment. We learn about the challenges we will be presented with and how to cope with them. In the jungle, the humidity makes life very uncomfortable and miserable. It will break you physically and emotionally if you are not mentally prepared.