FATIMA WHITBREAD MBE – RECRUIT NUMBER 5
Category: Press Pack ArticleAge: 61
From: Essex
Occupation: Javelin Olympic Gold Medallist
The oldest ever Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins recruit, Fatima, wants to prove she still has the physical fitness and mental stamina to participate and succeed on the course. Growing up in a children's home after being abandoned in a flat as a baby by her biological parents, she wants to show it’s possible to overcome even the most challenging adversity.
Why did you want to do Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins?
It’s because I'm reaching the age now, I'm obviously 61, and as a young woman, I was always very adventurous. I always liked the rough and tumble of everything. I think that was because living in children's homes for 14 years, I had what I call quite a mischievous side to me, where I was tough and had to survive. I'm not someone who'd sit down with a little Barbie doll, if I'd had a different upbringing, maybe I would've done. Sport was my saviour because that's really where I excelled. And a sense of achievement was important to me. It gave me confidence and it gave me the ability to believe in myself. So doing SAS is really only a knock on from those days. I would've liked to have done it as a young Whitbread because I think I would've cracked it wide open, but as an older lady, I’d like to think I've flown the flag really well in representation for the older generation, the middle aged, it’s not just a young person’s game.
Did you do anything to prepare?
I'm not somebody who would go in blindly, but I'm a mad gym junkie, who always, from the day I retired, never stopped working out. And if you talk to my son, he will tell you the madness of the woman. I do train exceptionally hard, even now. Once I knew I was going to go through that process, I knew I’d need to have a certain level of fitness behind me, more specific training because my general fitness and strength is pretty good. I've never really stopped that side of it. But where I put more intensity in the work was in backpack running. I actually did a lot of backpack running because I used to do that as an athlete. So I got out my old backpack and I had filled it with sand, stones, rocks, and off I went. I ran on Southend beach because I thought I must go on sand. But there's no comparison. Southend beach is very pebbly, sandy and rocky. So I could run for hours on that and not have a problem. I put in as much good groundwork as I could.
So was it harder than you expected?
Well, it was a huge challenge because it was quite different from what I'd been watching. I hadn’t seen the show in Jordan before. I'd been to Brecon Beacons before as an athlete and I trained in that area and I knew what to expect in that scenario. It's so different running on sand with a backpack than it is having solid ground under your feet and you're not sinking. And the heat - temperatures are 30 degrees against, minus whatever it is in the Brecon Beacon where I was used to training. I’d have preferred to be in a colder climate. I think that may have favoured me more than the 30 degrees heat as an older person running with heavy backpack on sand because you're not a young person anymore are you? You're not firing off all your cylinders!
Did you have any fears when you were flying out there?
No. I mean, in the end, it's a mind game. I learned a lot about that as an athlete. So I think that's where I would've gained a lot more experience knowing myself in the waiting game and seeing what's going to happen when we get out there because it is all in the mind. I think Jennifer suffered a little bit and I just tried to say to her, “where you suffer is in the mind. When you do it, you do it well. So it's about training the mind as much as it is the body too.” And if your body's trained, your mind is key because that's what's going to hold you back, if you don't get it right.
Do you think your mental strength gave you an upper hand?
I know I'm capable of so much more when I get down to it and when I see others struggling, it makes me realise, “what are you worrying about, these others are stressing and they need stress!” They're much younger and they're more capable physically, but because they haven't perhaps been through the competitive realms where I was internationally on a world stage, this is what helps get you through.
How did you feel about the Directing Staff?
It's always trepidation because when you watch the programme, you never see what goes on in the background. It is all the rough tough stuff. And you know they've got a job to do and it is based on hell week, which is pretty tough in the real world for these Special Forces guys. What we experience is only a fraction of what they do. I've really hammered myself into shape for many years, physically and mentally having to prepare. So I wasn't afraid to meet the Directing Staff. It was just a question of how this was going to unfold?
How did you feel being screamed at?
Bring it on! I kept thinking the more you shout at me, the better I am, because I want to give my best and be the true person that I am and rise to their challenge. And if somebody's telling me I'm doing it wrong, I'm used to that. Over the years, my mum would say stuff to me, she'd be shouting at me sometimes as a coach. She was a national event coach. She knew what she was talking about. And I respected that. I might have something to say about it, but of course, in a situation like that in the SAS, there was no mouthing back because you put everybody in jeopardy if you do. You bite back and you get beasted, so it’s best to just keep your head down and get on with it.
Was there any particular DS that you wanted to impress the most?
Well, I love both Foxy and Billy. Foxy is a handsome, easy on the eye guy isn't he? He is laid back as well. So when he talked to me, I didn't feel threatened by him, but with Billy, he's got the look to go with it. So he'll say, “what are you fucking playing at, don't fucking smile at me.” He’s a bit tougher. I started smiling at them and winking at Billy and then he said to me, “What are you fucking looking at, like what you see?” He totally blasted me!
Was there any moment throughout the whole experience where you were scared?
I think the one that I found hard was the walking along the line across a ravine, where you have a line above and a line below. The first part of it is okay but when you get to the middle, the elements and the wire start shaking because you are shaking. And then of course it's a question of whether you can balance enough not to fall off. For some people, it works well and for others it doesn't. For me, momentarily, I should have held on a bit longer than I did.
How would you sum up the whole experience?
Fantastic. I'm proud of myself, proud of the fact that for the first time in doing something like that, such a great group of people coming together, like they did, worked together, lived together and supported one another. That's the first time I've ever experienced it on a TV show. It warmed me. They were great. I'd do it again!