Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins' Perri Shakes-Drayton 'couldn't walk' after getting trench foot

Virgin Radio

25 Sep 2023, 11:19

Credit: Channel 4

Track and field athlete Perri Shakes-Drayton 'couldn't walk' and was left 'crawling on the floor' after contracting trench foot on gruelling reality show, Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins

Olympian Perri Shakes-Drayton and three other stars of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins were reportedly left 'wheelchair-bound' after enduring gruesome injuries during the gruelling stages of the special forces selection process.

Speaking with virginradio.co.uk and other press at a roundtable, ahead of this series' first episode on Tuesday 26th September, Perri recounted her experience of the condition, that is most commonly associated with the soldiers of World War I.

"It was so bad. I couldn't walk!" Perri said of the pain with former Danielle Lloyd, who also contracted the symptomatic blisters of the ailment, added that the former hurdler was also: "Crawling on the fall, going: 'Help me!',".

Among those that were also afflicted included singer Gareth Gates and former Love Island contestant Teddy Soares.

Teddy told The Sun: "I was in a wheelchair all through the airport, so it was very painful. It was like a week recovery period.

"When we first initially came out, of course we had the therapy session and the conversations. But I couldn't get past the pain and this affected me on pretty much the last day that I was there.

"I really desperately wanted to shower. But at the same time the water touching your feet is so painful that I just left it for about 24 hours. I couldn't do it."

Trench foot, a condition caused by prolonged exposure of the feet to wet conditions, can be painful and lead to symptoms such as blisters and numbness.

The condition, which varies in severity, can be painful but often clears up in one to three days.

As many as 20,000 soldiers in WWI endured the condition, that Danielle Llyod also described as 'basically having your feet ate [eaten] away', after prolonged exposure to water at the bottom of the dug out trenches.

All 16 contestants, which includes former health secretary Matt Hancock, were pushed to their limits, with Perri ending up running a marathon as a result of the show, a feat she 'would say to herself' she'd never do.

Ahead of her appearance on the show, Perri asked fellow athlete Dwayne Chambers, who had previously appeared in a prior series, what to expect.

She asked 'what's the show like?' to which his response was 'oh yeah it's good Perri but no type of training, althetics training will help you,'.