The ultimate test of physical and psychological resilience
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An elite group of ex-Special Forces soldiers put a group of recruits through an extraordinary series of physical and psychological tests, each taken from the real selection process.
Physical fitness is just the start, the true test is one of character. “Would I want this person alongside me in a war zone?” is the Special Forces instructors’ all-important question. The recruits are cut off from the outside world to eat, sleep and train together. Over the course they are subjected to intense psychological profiling, sleep deprivation, endurance tests and interrogation. But as the recruits’ defences are stripped away, so too are our preconceptions about the qualities needed to be a Special Forces soldier. They’re not always interested in the fastest, first or strongest – they’re interested in the resilient characters made of the right stuff.
Most will reach breaking point and withdraw, but which recruits will be among the few who make it to the end?
Fourteen celebrities from music, entertainment and sport sign up to take part in Special Forces selection. The course, run by four Ex-Special Forces soldiers, is the hardest yet. Chief Instructor Billy and his team take the recruits to Wales – the home of the first phase of SAS Selection, where they will be stripped of their home comforts, families, agents and social media. Together the DS will push the celebrity recruits even further and teach them the key skills to survive.
- Season 6 performed especially well for younger viewers, above the channel norm by +84%
Season 7 (2026): 8 x 60' - coming soon to Channel 4 and Seven
Season 6 (2025) - 8 x 60'
Seasons 1-6: 33 x 60', 1 x 90'
A new troop of US household names endure some of the harshest, most gruelling challenges from the playbook of actual Special Forces selection process. The recruits are pushed to their limits in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains and endure the extreme circumstances of urban warfare. For the first time ever, some recruits are family members and spouses, but must compete in the World’s Toughest Test individually
- #1 unscripted debut of the 2022-2023 season on FOX
- Most streamed two-hour unscripted debut in the network’s history
Season 4: 9 x 60'
Seasons 1-3: 28 x 60'