SAS: Who Dares Wins 2023 release date: when is Channel 4 series on TV, where is it set, who are instructors?

SAS: Who Dares Wins will return to Channel 4 next year, featuring a fresh group of candidates being put through the SAS selection process in the jungles of North Vietnam.

Twenty regular men and women - whose identities were made public this week - will be subject to difficult challenges to test their physical and mental toughness and assess which recruits have what it takes to pass the training in the Channel 4 survival programme.

Here is everything you need to know about it.

When is new SAS: Who Dares Wins series released?

SAS: Who Dares Wins will return to Channel 4 on 23 January 2023 for six hour-long episodes. The show airs at 9pm.

Who is the new Chief Instructor?

Mark "Billy" Billingham, a former Special Air Service (SAS) member for 27 years who served as an instructor throughout the selection process’s jungle phase, will take over as Chief Instructor for the eighth series.

Billingham, who reached the rank of Sergeant Major during his career, said: “Having been a DS on actual military SAS selection and Chief Instructor at the British Army Jungle Warfare Training School in Brunei, there is nobody better placed than myself to lead the recruits through this treacherous environment.

“I’m looking forward to challenging and encouraging the new recruits. However, I will not be accepting any excuses, this will be the toughest course to date.”

After receiving the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery and being named a Member of the British Empire, the 61-year-old will lead the line-up of ex-Special Forces soldiers putting contestants through their paces.

They include returning Directing Staff (DS) Jason ‘Foxy’ Fox and Rudy Reyes, alongside brand new member of the DS team, former Special Forces Operator Chris Oliver.

Where is the new series set?

Last year’s series took place in the Jordanian desert, and the new series will see a new batch of 20 recruits undergo the jungle phase of SAS selection in North Vietnam.

Former US Marine Reyes, who became former SAS host Ant Middleton’s replacement on the military training show last series, said filming in Thung Ui, North Vietnam was an “emotional homecoming” for him.

He said: “My father was a US Marine who did multiple tours of duty in the Vietnam War and because of those scars inside and out I never knew him while he was alive.

“It was an honour to work with the gracious Vietnamese people to bring the best SAS: Who Dares Wins series yet. And a humble honour to tread the harsh but beautiful jungles and rivers that my father did, and in a sense meeting him in a warrior way, spiritually.”

Meanwhile, 46-year-old returning DS Fox said: “Taking the course into the jungle, which is one of the most intimidating environments in the world, will make this one of the most intense and challenging courses yet.”

What about Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins?

The celebrity spin-off of SAS: Who Dares Wins is also scheduled to air, and serving MP Matt Hancock, fresh from his stint on I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, confirmed as one of the contestants. He reportedly received £45,000 to take part in the show.

Hancock is reportedly set to appear on the 2023 series alongside celebrities like James Argent and Gareth Gates, however the cast has not yet been officially announced.