Celebrity SAS star Chris Robshaw forced to withdraw from show after fight with fellow contestant causes injury

The former England rugby captain was among recruits taking part in the extreme Channel 4 reality programme, but he had to quit after he suffered an injury which left him unable to continue.

Sunday’s episode (September 29) saw Chris become the fourth recruit to leave the training camp, after reality star Marnie Simpson, comedian Tez Ilyas. Actor John Barrowman also quit after just 32 minutes in last week’s episode (September 22).

The celebrities had been put through days of physically and mentally challenging tasks, including being asked to fight one another. It was when 38-year-old Robshaw was ordered to fight Love Island star Ovie Soko that he suffered a shoulder injury.

Introducing the task, ex-SAS leader Mark ‘Billy’ Billingham told the celebs: “One of the worst scenarios, the most frightening scenario, is close quarter battle. Kill or be killed.”

Just minutes after Robshaw and Soko began to fight, however, Billingham had to bring the clash to an end and shouted ‘stop’ as he realised Robshaw had been hurt. “I’ve dislocated my shoulder, my shoulder’s gone,” Robshaw could be heard saying.

He was taken away by a medic to be looked at as the other celebrities continued with the task, with another Love Island contestant Georgia Harrison whispering: “This is too far for me.”

The rugby pro was assessed by a professional, who told him: “Your shoulder is unstable. This could pop at any time, so for that reason, I’m going to have to medically withdraw you from the course.”

Later, Robshaw told the cameras: “As a sports person, you gradually come to terms with your body can’t do it, your body is not what it is 10 years ago. When you do get to that stage where you do have to move on from what you love doing, it’s really hard. But you can still have a buzz, it’s just a different one.” He also said he was “devastated” because he had to leave the show.

He later revealed he was flown to hospital to have surgery within 12 hours of the incident happened. “I had to get an operation, because I’d popped my shoulder out the ligament was loose so it becomes like a catch which keeps opening. So they reattached the ligament to keep it in place,’ he said, in quotes obtained by MailOnline.

“I don’t really remember a lot of the boxing. I tried to throw a punch and basically hyperextended my shoulder and it popped out.” He added that his issues with his shoulder had started during his rugby career. “Unfortunately, towards the end of my career, I had some issues with the shoulder and it can come out of the socket. It was just kind of numbing. It went back in and I went to see the doctor who said it was clear it had come out,” he said.