SAS: Who Dares Wins and SAS Australia host, Ant Middleton was dropped by UK network, Channel 4, due to “personal conduct” after he referred to Black Lives Matter protesters as “absolute scum”.
While the British network has axed the star, on a local front, Channel 7 has now confirmed that Middleton will still appear in the Australian iteration of the series.
“Ant Middleton and his fellow DS (Directing Staff), Mark ‘Billy’ Billingham, Jason Fox and Ollie Ollerton, will all be returning for the second season of SAS Australia which is currently in pre-production,” a spokesperson for Seven told POPSUGAR Australia.
On March 3, Channel 4 released the following statement about the 40-year-old.
“Ant Middleton will not be taking part in future series of SAS: Who Dares Wins,” a spokesperson from the network told MailOnline.
“Following a number of discussions Channel 4 and Minnow Films have had with him in relation to his personal conduct it has become clear that our views and values are not aligned and we will not be working with him again,” they said.
Then, on March 4, Middleton responded to his axing during an interview on Good Morning Britain.
Calling UK network, Channel 4, “desperate and reckless”, the 40-year-old defended his comments, saying they were just “banter” and that the statement released by the channel was just “smoke and mirrors”.
“Channel 4’s statement is very reckless and desperate. I have filmed two more series of SAS since the Black Lives Matter tweets – it’s all smoke and mirrors,” he said.
“Since the last episode of SAS: Who Dares Wins it became a half-scripted reality show; full control was taken from me and after that show, I said I am not going to film any more, I wanted to part in a positive way and they knew I was going.
“All of a sudden they drop this bomb about me being axed and ultimately what they are doing is protecting their brand. They knew I was going; they got in before me.”
