GEORGIA Harrison defied the odds to beat horrifying mental torture, sleep deprivation and energy-sapping feats of endurance to complete this year’s Celebrity SAS.
The Love Island star and campaigner was one of only two recruits – the other being New Zealand rugby ace Lani Daniels – to pass the process.
Georgia, 29, might have been one of the daintier celebs on the show, but that didn’t stop her getting stuck into all manner of gruelling physical tasks including boxing and a heart-stopping simulated helicopter crash.
The end result was a battered and bruised body, upon which injuries are worn like badges of honour.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Georgia said: “I just felt like I’d literally been hit by a train after. Like I was just in so much pain, my entire body was aching from top to bottom.
“My feet were ripped to shreds, I chipped my veneers, I was just an absolute mess.”
What often goes unnoticed on the programme is the back-breaking effect lugging around a heavy Bergen backpack has on recruits.
Such was its constant weighty presence, that Georgia looked towards the head-scrambling interrogations as a release from the physical toll.
“We’ve always got 15 kilos on our back,” said Georgia. “I don’t think viewers are reminded of that, that throughout this whole experience, you’re actually like weighed down, and it takes such a toll on your body.
“I actually thought like, oh once I get to the interrogation, it’s just going to be a breeze. I’m going to get to lay on my back for a few hours, and you know I’m mentally strong, and I’ll be fine.
“But actually that’s when the real mental side of it kicked in, because like I actually think what’s about that when I look at myself, until like the interrogation like bit, I’m sort of smiling. It’s like I’m somewhere else. I’m just always like having a good time, and I think a positive mental attitude helps get you through.
“And then the interrogation part was just yeah, the strongest mental challenge I’ve ever had in my life, to just stay strong and push through. So it was really 50-50, but towards the end it got all mental.”
Ahead of the programme, Georgia bulked up and put on a stone to try and reduce the risk of getting hypothermia, which is more likely with a lower body fat percentage.
She said: “So I think I probably just held on to the weight whilst I was on there, and like whenever I had a chance to eat, I would just eat whatever I could.
“So yeah, if anything I would say I probably put on weight and toned up from all like lifting the weights and stuff and just eating anything that I could get my hands on.”
The food rations the celebs received were hit and miss, according to Georgia, ranging from the “really good” to less appealing comparisons with “a*******e”.
“It completely depended if you’d won or lost,” she said. “Like if you’d lost you could end up with like a packet of like this awful pasta stuff and you put water on it, but it’s made for like astronauts, it’ll probably survive like a nuclear war.
“And when you look on it, it’s got like 2000 calories on it and it tastes like actual a******e. So like the food really did fluctuate on there.”
Once she returned to the luxury hotel the cast had quarantined in prior to embarking on their two week ordeal, Georgia made up for lost time and gorged on food and drink.
“I couldn’t figure out what to do with myself,” she admitted. “I think I had a wee alone, which was stunning, then I filled up like a massive bath because the bathtubs there are beautiful.
“Whilst my bath was running, I ordered room service and I got a burger and pasta and salad. When the waiter brought me my food, he brought me a bottle of wine to say congratulations, because he’d heard from the other people that I’d won because they’d been in the restaurant and stuff.
“So I literally just bathed and I ate my food in the bath and drank at least two glasses of wine. And then I slept for like 20 hours.”
Only a handful of recruits remained at the hotel at this point, including Bianca Gascogine, Bobby Norris and Ovie Soko, but there was a big reunion back in the UK hosted by fellow series star Rachel Johnson, which Georgia described as “fun”.
On reflection, Georgia said she always had ambitions of succeeding on the show, but niggling doubts that she wouldn’t actually be capable of it were ever present.
She explained: “I was obviously so happy to pass, but I don’t think it really like sunk in, like how amazing it was, and how much of an honour it was to pass for a couple of days, because I was just completely in shock of what I’d experienced.”
But there was more riding on it for Georgia than just pure self accomplishment.
Having become a trailblazer in recent years following her revenge porn hell with her jailed ex Stephen Bear, Georgia felt she was flying the flag for women in general.
“I definitely feel I just wanted to show how strong women could be.,” she said. “I know that the last couple of years have been like a real turning point in my life, where I’ve gained so many female followers, and a lot of them are looking up to me to feel empowered in themselves.”
The personal transformation she has gone through, from the victim of a horrible crime to a flag bearer for the fight against revenge porn, ultimately gave her the mental strength to push on when the going got really tough.
She said: “I think what makes you so much more able to cope with things, because you can just compare them to you know that sort of an experience, and nothing compares to that sort of pain.”
