SAS Who Dares Wins 2020: James Priestley defies gangster past to complete The Sickener and Drownproofing

SAS: Who Dares Wins is well-known as one of the toughest competitions out there on the telly. And after six weeks of brutal interrogation, mental and physical strain, the twenty-five recruits have been whittled down to just seven this season.

The final episode of series 5 aired on Sunday, February 9th and revealed which of the recruits had proved themselves as worthy of the SAS.

As per, barely any of the civilian recruits made it to this final stage.

So, who is James? Meet the recruit who ‘won’ SAS: Who Dares Wins!

Screenshot: SAS Who Dares Wins S5 E6 – 4oD

Who is SAS: Who Dares Wins’ James?

James Priestley was recruit number 1 on the series and one of the participants who had had the most troublesome past.

He is a 31-year-old estate agent from Bradford in northwesterly Yorkshire.

In episode 6, he was described as coming from a “violent, criminal background” by the Umpire. Ant Middleton described James as a “good guy inside.”

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What is James’ criminal background?

As is the way on SAS: Who Dares Wins, the participants come to the series with baggage they need to deal with and a personal journey they need to go on. Even the DS have their own baggage they deal with on the show, which makes it sound like some kind of glorious, restorative chat show; it’s far from that.

James was born into a well-established gangster family who lived and operated in the gangster area.

Speaking about his family on the show, James said: “Throughout our life, it was normal to have people in balaclavas in our kitchen with shotguns, there would be gangsters around all the time.”

James also revealed that he survived a brutal revenge attack after his father, Dean Priestley, stole £1million from drug dealers.

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When you are interrogated for so long your hair starts growing back @owensy87 @carladevlin15. Hey @liz.abram if you want my number just ask, you don’t need to be all up in my face mate. @sas_whodareswins @sas_whodareswins_ @channel4 #saswhodareswins #sweet #pain #motivation #cry #intimidating #killmenowplz #keepgoing #thankyou #scary #power #nopainnogain #family

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James on completing the SAS training

Speaking to Channel 4 about his experience, James said:

It was the greatest and worst experience of my life. By far the hardest thing I have ever had to endure and yet, it was the only way to get to know who I really am.

He said “the weather conditions and lack of sleep were the hardest things to endure.”

But despite all of this, James said he would do it all again!

Screenshot: SAS Who Dares Wins S5 E6 – 4oD

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