Sunday night's episode of Channel 4's Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins kicked off with an explosion of emotion as the remaining 12 celebrities - who include AJ and Curtis Pritchard, Fern McCann, Dwain Chambers and Ashley Cain among others - tackled a challenge which questioned their ability to stay calm and stay focused without losing their nerve. Described by the narrator as one of the most violent tasks on the course, the challenge required the application of extreme violence coupled with composure.
The Channel 4 series sees the celebrities - or recruits as they are known - tested to their physical and psychological limits, as they confront surprising truths about themselves, while tackling some of the most brutal courses and challenges that the series has ever offered. These courses are run by an elite team of ex-special forces operators from the UK and USA. Read here to see all of the celebrities who are taking part.
Explaining the task on the show (which aired on Sunday, September 25 at 9pm on Channel 4), SAS instructor Jason 'Foxy' Fox said: "You need to know when to turn it on and off. Open the lid and then put it back on".
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With the recruits taking on someone called the Red Man, who was dressed in red padded body armour, they were to do their best in trying to "destroy" the red man and in doing so, needed to unleash an outpouring of anger and emotion.
Upon calling time, the recruits (celebrities) were to stop fighting the red man, and compose themselves. For some, this was an easy feat, but for world champion WBA female bantamweight title-holder and boxer, Shannon Courtenay, it brought out emotion she couldn't hold in any longer.
When it came to her turn facing the Red Man, Shannon, who is dubbed as Number 11 on the show, said in a pre-recorded clip: "I have a bad temper. Once I see red there is no going back and it's scary.
"I've got a lot of demons I think. I'm afraid I'm going to have to face things on this course I've been putting off facing since I was a child."
Shannon used her professional boxing techniques to "finish him off", yet when she stood up on the signal, she was visibly upset upon being asked "how did that feel".
Later in the show, Shannon, who got into boxing "purely by chance", was called in by two of the SAS instructors to discuss her emotional reaction earlier in the day. She was taken into a room with a black cover over her head, before being unmasked in front of Jason Fox and the show's newest instructor Remi Adeleke who asked her, outright, if she was ok.
After responding with "good", they questioned her on what happened today, to which she replied: "Leaving me 'til last, I just wound myself up a little bit. Pacing up and down, getting in my own head, and I just felt numb."
After discussing her successful career - in which the instructor said she had accomplished a lot (she explained: "I had my first fight at 22, and then I was professional and became world champion at 27 years old") - they moved onto a discussion about the 29-year-old's childhood. This movement in the conversation sparked something in Shannon, causing her to become emotional once again.
Remi said of this: "Obviously there's something there, right? By keeping it contained, it doesn't help at all. Just makes the situation worse."
Taking a deep breath, Shannon went on to explain what caused such a shift in her emotions once she unleashed her anger on the course.
"So I grew up with the most amazing mum in the world, that worked her arse off to make sure we never went without, but my dad was gone by the time I was ten. He basically didn't want me. So, my mum was divorcing him and he just decided that he was kind of done and then that was it really.
"I don't know him, I don't... couldn't tell you what he looks like now. It's not nice, I've got just the worst, most horrendous memories I can't seem to shake. I couldn't really deal with my demons so I turned to drink. Up to no good with the wrong people. Had no purpose in life. And was just going to wind up being an addict and then I found boxing and kind of found my purpose and realised, I actually had a reason to be alive - because I didn't feel I did."
Remi then asked what she thought of herself right now? "I wouldn't say I was happy," she said.
"I've been there too, okay?," said Remi. "My father died when I was five. But the good thing about you, and us, is that you have been able to work through that. Look at where you are today, right? You have an amazing transformation story. And that alone is to be something to be happy about."
Jason added: "You need to start believing in yourself. Smile. It's the only thing that'll get you through it. Telling you now for nothing."
Cheering up, the chat was concluded with Shannon saying: "I'll try to smile more" before the guard was called and Shannon was taken back to base. The two instructors were clearly taken aback by the story, saying "poor girl" to each other once she had left.
After opening up to Jason and Remi, viewers saw Shannon saying: "I used to hate myself. I don't hate myself anymore, but I'd like to start being kinder to myself. So I just feel like this course will help me become a better version of myself."
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins viewers were quick to take to Twitter to offer a "Well done" to the boxer after she opened up about such an emotional time.
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins continues next Sunday on Channel 4 at 9pm. For more showbiz and television stories, get our newsletter here.
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