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Fatima Whitbread kept cracked ribs a secret in case she got pulled out of 'Celebrity SAS'

Fatima Whitbread is the oldest contestant in Celebrity SAS aged 61. (C4)
Fatima Whitbread had cracked ribs on Celebrity SAS. (C4)

Fatima Whitbread has revealed she had three cracked ribs on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins but kept it a secret.

The retired javelin thrower, 61, is one of the recruits on the Channel 4 reality show, which sees celebs being put through their paces in tough challenges.

Speaking on This Morning, the sports star admitted she was injured on the show but kept it to herself because she was scared she wouldn’t get to carry on if she mentioned it.

Read more: Ferne McCann fights Rudy Reyes in Celebrity SAS

“I cracked three ribs and I never said anything about it,” she said.

“I was a bit concerned if I had mentioned it they would pull me out.”

Celebrity SAS 2022 recruits Maisie Smith, Jennifer Ellison, Calum Best, Fatima Whitbread MBE, Pete Wick, Ferne McCann, Ashley Cain, Amber Gill,  AJ Pritchard, Curtis Pritchard, Dwain Chambers, Jade Jones, Shannon Courtenay and Jonathan Broom-Edwards MBE. (C4)
Celebrity SAS 2022 recruits Maisie Smith, Jennifer Ellison, Calum Best, Fatima Whitbread, Pete Wick, Ferne McCann, Ashley Cain, Amber Gill, AJ Pritchard, Curtis Pritchard, Dwain Chambers, Jade Jones, Shannon Courtenay and Jonathan Broom-Edwards MBE. (C4)

As hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary expressed their shock, Whitbread explained: “I am the sort of girl who just rolls her sleeves up and gets involved… socks around my ankles, sleeves rolled up and in I go.”

Opening up about her experience on the programme, she admitted it was “brutal”.

“It is known as hell week for the SAS forces and they make it no easier for us just because we are celebs going in and trying this process,” she said.

Fatima Whitbread; -BBC Sports personality of the Year 2006 NEC , Birmingham; 10th December 2006; 17868; Only;    (Photo by Jules Annan/Avalon/Getty Images)
Fatima Whitbread said the show was 'brutal'. (Jules Annan/Avalon/Getty Images)

“It is only a process and one should remember that, it’s not about winning or losing, it is just putting yourself to the test to see how far you can go in the process itself.”

Whitbread has done other reality shows including I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, Celebrity Come Dine With Me and Pilgrimage.

Britain's Fatima Whitbread gets ready to throw the Javelin in the finals at the World Athletics Championships in Rome September 6, 1987. She won the gold with a throw of 76.64 meters. SCANNED FROM NEGATIVE REUTERS/Charles Platiau  MEF/PN/CMC
Fatima Whitbread was a champion javelin thrower. (REUTERS/Charles Platiau)

But she told Hammond and O’Leary that Celebrity SAS was the “most enjoyable one of all the other reality programmes that I have done”.

Read more: Celebrity SAS sparks sibling rivalry for AJ and Curtis Pritchard

“They were a lovely bunch of people,” she said.

Watch: Kerry Katona reveals making Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins was like therapy