MEN’S HEALTH 59
trouble and do all the shitty jobs I can
to keep myself busy.”
Middleton mopped the floors, acted
as a gym orderly and taught English
to inmates who couldn’t read or write.
After two months, he was let out for good
behaviour. He took the positives from his
time inside and left the rest of it behind
him. It was owning his transgression
completely, he believes, that prevented
it from defining him.
“When I was on trial – I’ve never told
anyone this – my barrister said I should
claim I had PTSD and I’d get a slap on the
wrist. I’d get a two-year suspended sentence
and that would be that. But I said, ‘I haven’t
got PTSD. I don’t suffer from any mental
health issues. I got pissed and fucked up!’
Can you imagine if I went down that route?
Fucking hell, am I digging myself a hole
for the rest of my life? Of course I am. You
have to be honest with yourself.
“It was just a bad life decision. It’s not
because my father died when I was five
years old. It’s not because I’ve been to war.
I fucked up, chose the wrong option, put
my hand up and did what I needed to do.
That’s nothing to me now.”
Going All In
The first series of SAS: Who Dares Wins
aired in 2015. Since then, there have
been four main series and a celebrity
version to support Stand Up to Cancer,
with the programme hugely exceeding
expectations to make the Sunday 9pm
slot its own, attracting more than three
million viewers. As chief instructor,
Middleton and his fellow former special
forces directing staff initially put recruits
through selection in south-western Wales,
before the success of the show propelled
them to the Amazonian rainforest, the
Atlas Mountains and the Andes.
Who Dares Wins has taken him about as
far from Chelmsford as you can imagine,
and for increasingly longer periods
during preparations for each series. Then
there are his media engagements all over
the UK. But he does not allow the logistics
of his post-military career to impact
upon his performance at work or with his
family. He simply gives both barrels.
“When I do my work, I’m 100% work.
When I’m being a husband, I’m 100%
a husband. When I’m away from the
family, I see it as a short-term sacrifice. I
love doing my challenges and adventures;
they allow me to be myself. So, when I get
home, even though they might have me