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Maisie Smith: I woke up in panic for a while after 'Celebrity SAS'

Maisie Smith (Channel 4)
Maisie Smith said Celebrity SAS haunted her sleep after the show ended. (Channel 4)

Maisie Smith has revealed how Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins haunted her sleep even after the show was over.

The 21-year-old EastEnders actor competed in the latest series of the Channel 4 survival show and told how she would wake up in the night thinking she needed to complete another challenge, admitting it took a while for her sleep pattern to return to normal.

Smith told the Mirror: “For quite a while I’d wake up in a panic. Little noises would make me jump as I’d think, ‘Oh God. What does that mean? All right. Run a mile, where’s my bag?’

Read more: Maisie Smith reveals Strictly helped her face fears around 'body image hatred'

“It was quite a while until I was back into relax mode but I wouldn’t change a second, it changed my life.”

The former child star - who was runner-up on Strictly Come Dancing in 2020 - admitted Celebrity SAS trainers Rudy Reyes, Jason Fox, Billy Billingham and Remi Adeleke made her feel "like c**p" by shouting insults at her during challenges.

Maisie Smith on Strictly
Maisie Smith was runner-up on Strictly in 2020. (BBC)

She said: “I did find them quite intimidating. I feel like there were certain moments where if I’m out of my comfort zone or if I didn’t do well in a task, they were quite easy at making you feel belittled.

“I felt like I was a little kid at school again getting told off. I’m not an argumentative person. So, when they were shouting at me for completely messing everything up or just doing something really stupid, it was like, ‘Oh, God.’ But they’re not doing it to make you feel like c**p, they want you to succeed."

But Smith - who began her career as Tiffany Butcher in BBC soap EastEnders when she was just seven-years-old - said taking part in the gruelling show had cured her of self-doubt.

Maisie Smith as Tiffany Butcher in EastEnders,
Maisie Smith as Tiffany Butcher in EastEnders. (BBC)

She said: "It makes me feel tougher. Even if it’s nothing to do with SAS, that’s always in my head. If I can survive on that show, I can survive anywhere...

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"It was honestly the best thing I’ve ever done. It got that demon off my shoulder. I went in there with everything I had and I came out feeling like I could literally conquer the world."

Watch: Maisie Smith on taking part in the Strictly tour