Olympic gymnast Ellie Downie took part in Celebrity SAS for late brother who died before he could join forces

Olympic gymnast Ellie Downie MBE took part on the show to honour her late brother.

Keen sportsman Josh died aged just 24 in 2001. He suffered a sudden cardiac arrest whilst playing cricket at a ground in Liverpool.

Tests later revealed he was living with an inherited condition called arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM), but it had gone undiagnosed.

Ellie, 23, explains: “He applied for the civilian [SAS] just before Covid but then when the pandemic hit it didn’t happen. I knew it was a show he really, really liked. So I wanted to do it because he wanted to do it himself.

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“It was also to challenge myself after retiring from gymnastics. It had been like a good six or seven months, so I thought it’d be a good time to see how mentally tough I still was.”

Ellie’s one of 15 celebs taking part in the sixth series of the gruelling Channel 4 show which sees pepole put through their paces by four former SAS operators.

The series was filmed last year in New Zealand but will hit our screens this Sunday, Septmber 22, with new episodes each week on a Sunday and Monday. John Barrowman, Strictly Pete Wicks, Olympic gymnast Ellie Downie, former boxer Anthony Ogogo, Bianca Gascoigne and Boris Johnson ’s sister Rachel are among the other names taking part.

Like her other siblings. she wore a gold family ring with the words ‘Downie 5’ engraved on it during the series.

The Rio 2016 Olympian, says: “He has one - we all do.”

She admits there were terrifying moments - including one task she admits was quite “triggering.”

She explains: “Because he [Josh] died of a heart attack I really panic about the breathing sometimes and I’m not very strong in water. There was one challenge where it wound me up to the point that I pretty much passed out, I was that scared.”

She also admits some of the tough talking special forces operatives reminded her of her tough gymnastics coaches as a child.

“I think looking back, it was a slight trigger point for me, because I was so used to being shouted at as a kid, and I’ve not had it for so long,” she says. “I genuinely think it struck fear in me, and I was living off adrenaline and fear for days.

“As a gymnast, because you’re so young, you get ruled from such a young age, because they almost feel like they’re your parents at times because you almost spend more time with them than you do your parents. So they just tell you what to do, they tell you need to work harder.... So from when we got into camp, and just being shouted at, being told to ‘get out here now’ kind of thing, it was a bit of a trigger for me because you would get shouted at to get on the bar faster, or get on the beam faster, or do this faster, it was a bit of a weird one, I wasn’t expecting it.”

The memories of her tough years training in the gym aside, Ellie actually loved her time and the camaraderie on Celebrity SAS.

She says: “It really is an experience of a lifetime, even though it was probably one of the hardest. I remember when I got out and told my family, ‘You don’t understand it unless you kind of do it and see it’. And they were just like, ‘Was it really that hard? So what?’ I can’t wait for them to watch it because it was brutal!”

CREDIT: Celebrity SAS begins Sunday September 22. It will be shown every Sunday and Monday, 9pm, Ch 4.