Danielle Lloyd says Celeb SAS 'was my therapy' after gruelling final

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Danielle Lloyd has said facing Celebrity SAS's angry trainers and gruelling challenges was like therapy for her after a tough past with domestic abuse.

The model and TV star made it to the final of Channel 4's Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins despite admitting she was not fit before the show.

But while some of her fellow contestants sought counselling after the intense experience, Lloyd told Steph's Packed Lunch that her own therapy was the show itself.

What, how, and why?

Danielle Lloyd achieved an incredible feat in Celebrity SAS – she finished as runner up despite admitting to a low level of fitness before starting the show.

The model and mum-of-five credits her success to her tough past living through abusive relationships and told Steph's Packed Lunch on Monday that she was mentally resilient and even stronger since taking on the Channel 4 show.

Celebrity SAS sees the famous cast challenged to a simulation of Special Forces training and while some of the recruits sought therapy after their time in the Vietnamese jungle, Lloyd said that she got all the help she needed while taking part.

Lloyd told Steph McGovern: "I said at the start, I'm never going to give up, I'm never going to take my armband off, I'm not that person.

"I've been through quite a few violent relationships in the past and obviously I thought that maybe being in the interrogation would definitely trigger that, but it just proved to me how far I've come.

"I was able to stand there and let a man scream in my face and not break down. It's made me so much stronger and made me realise that I'm a really strong bada**."

The Wanted star Siva Kaneswaran has said he went to therapy after exiting the series and winner Gareth Gates has also done the same, so McGovern asked whether Lloyd had needed any extra help.

McGovern said: "(Gareth Gates) talked about because it was such an experience doing a bit of therapy afterwards, were you alright afterwards?"

But Lloyd replied: "I think being in there was my therapy. It definitely made me such a stronger person."

Lloyd added that she thought her busy home life with five children had helped her in challenges such as the sleep deprivation task where recruits had to listen to noises including squealing pigs and nails being dragged down a blackboard between interrogations.

She said: "Being a mum helped me, I'm used to switching off when they're making noise. The psychologist was like how did you fall asleep when all that noise was going on? I'm used to it with my kids because they're so loud."

Lloyd added: "You get lost in being a mum and I wanted to do the show for myself. I came back such a positive person, I could literally take on the world."

What else happened on Celebrity SAS?

Gareth Gates was the one celebrity recruit to pass the training in this series of Celebrity SAS, but Lloyd was a close runner up.

In third place was former health secretary Matt Hancock, while Teddy Soares and Perri Shakes-Drayton made it to the final but not to the last challenge.

Talking about his toughness, Gates said: "I think I have become mentally strong, and able to cope with being stretched mentally, the difficulties I went through as a child and with my speech.

"Being at school was tough. I was badly bullied. And I think that helped me handle the difficult circumstances I was put in on the course. It was tough and my speech was at its worst there. I’m not great at confrontation or being put on the spot but I just had to somehow dig deep and I managed to tap into that. And I think that's what got me through it.

"I'm also very, very competitive, but mostly competitive against myself. I’m always trying to become better and stronger. I train hard in the gym, but I’m also very driven in life. I think all that comes from having had that drive to get myself out of the traumatic situations I faced with bullies when I was a kid."

Steph's Packed Lunch airs on Channel 4 at 12pm on weekdays.

Read more: Celebrity SAS

• Matt Hancock receives brutal takedown on Celebrity SAS (The Independent, 2 min read)

• Celebrity SAS reveals winner (Digital Spy, 2 min read)

• Gareth Gates: 'I never wanted to be famous!' (Bang Showbiz, 2 min read)