Professional boxer Shannon Courtenay has revealed that she “hate hated who she was” before taking on the “life-changing” TV show Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.
In an interview with MailOnline, the title-winning star, 29, shared how the Channel 4 program helped her overcome her “serious anger issues.”
Admittedly, Shannon also revealed that she had never seen the show before, didn’t know what to expect and was a “broken person” the way she was. pushed to the limit by ex-special forces operators in the blistering hot desert of Jordan.
Learning curve: Professional boxer Shannon Courtenay, 29, has revealed she had ‘severe anger issues’ before taking on ‘life-changing’ TV show Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins
Looking back on her time, she said, “I’ve learned to be nicer to myself. I went in there and hated who I was, hated the way I looked, hated my past, didn’t handle many things well, and had severe fits of anger.
“It has changed my life more than you will ever believe, I am a different person now and I am so grateful for it.
“There’s so much about me that this show has changed,” Shannon reiterated as she revealed the grueling details of some of the challenges she faced.
Hard: In an interview with MailOnline, the title-winning star said she was a ‘broken person’ as she was pushed to the limit by ex-special forces in the desert of Jordan
Shannon admitted she’d never seen the show before, so she wasn’t sure what to expect and talked about how the lack of sleep made her a “broken person.”
“I remember thinking ‘what the hell did I sign up for’, I thought I signed up for something physical and I’m pretty much everything, so I thought I’d be okay, but it was awful” she confessed.
‘One night I was a broken person, I was so tired and Calum [Best] did double duty on the night watch because he could see I was tired – so he let me sleep. The lack of sleep and the lack of food with all that training was the hardest part.”
Shannon did admit that she “overthought” the first few days, something she now regrets.
Thoughts: Looking back on her time, she said, “I’ve learned to be nicer to myself. I went in there and hated who I was, hated the way I looked, hated my past and had serious anger issues’
Shock: ‘I remember thinking ‘what the hell did I sign up for’, I thought I signed up for something physical and I’m pretty much everything so I thought I’d be okay’ (Pictured in 2021)
“I thought about everything for the first few days and put so much pressure on myself into thinking I had to make it to the end and finish it.
“That’s why I don’t remember the first few days. I wish I had enjoyed the whole process a bit more instead of seeing it as a competition.
“But when I forgot I was there for that reason, I really enjoyed it, you’ll see me and Ferne [McCann],,When we were on base, we laughed the whole time.’
“We then focused on it a bit more and enjoyed the whole process. It’s about just enjoying the moment.’
Conditions: ‘One night I was a broken person, I was so tired, the lack of sleep and lack of food with all that training was the hardest,’ said Shannon
Team: ‘When we got into it a bit more and just enjoyed the whole process a bit more. It’s about just enjoying the moment,” the boxer added
Building on what she’s learned, the boxer says, “Not having a phone and not having social media has been so nice, I don’t use my phone half as much as I used to.”
Celebrity SAS will see Shannon travel to Scotland for the first time for a grueling series of challenges, but they’ll have to wait a while before discovering what lies ahead in Jordan.
Shannon will be joined by actresses Maisie Smith, 21, and Jennifer Ellison, 39; TV personality Calum Best, 41; Reality TV stars, Pete Wicks, 33, and Ferne McCann, 32; Javelin Olympic gold medalist, Fatima Whitbread MBE, 61.
Also participating is professional dancer, AJ Pritchard, 27, professional dancer Curtis Pritchard, 26, ex-football player Ashley Cain, 31; Influencer and TV personality, Amber Gill, 25; Olympic Sprinter, Dwain Chambers, 44; Olympic gold medalist Jade Jones OBE, 29 and Paralympic high jumper, Jonathan Broom-Edwards MBE, 34.
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, Sunday at 9 p.m. on channel 4.
Series: Celebrity SAS will see Shannon travel to Jordan for a grueling series of challenges – but they’ll have to wait a while before they discover what they have in store (The cast pictured)