An emotional episode of SAS: Who Dares Wins last night saw one of the show’s recruits describe the night his mother was killed in the Manchester Arena terror attack.
Dylan Kiss, 24, was pulled into the interrogation room by the team of ex-Special Forces operators, where he was quizzed about his struggles in the programme.
Earlier in last night’s episode on Channel 4, Dylan was left shaken by a ‘break and fall’ exercise that saw him responsible for catching one of his fellow recruits from free fall.
He confessed to the directing staff that it was difficult for him to ‘have someone else’s life in my hands’, adding that he couldn’t stop thinking of his fellow recruit’s family at home.
Recruit Dylan Kiss struggled with a task on last night’s episode of SAS: Who Dares Wins. Credit: Channel 4
He said: “I thought, ‘she’s got a family, what if I f*** up now?’,” adding: “I know what family means to people. Family’s a massive part of people’s lives.”
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Dylan’s mother Michelle Kiss was one of the 22 people killed in the horrific incident on 22 May, 2017.
He opened up on the incident that ‘turned his life upside down’ and recounted the impact it has had on his family in the years since.
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Dylan’s mum Michelle Kiss was one of the victims of the Manchester Arena terror attack. Credit: GMP
Dylan said: “Four year ago, my little sister and my mum, on the 22nd of May, they just went out to an Ariana Grande concert, and, er, you know, the next thing, obviously, it all finished and stuff, and a terrorist attack. A bomb went off.
“The next thing me and my dad fly off in my little car because he’d had a glass of wine, not knowing what to expect. My dad’s running up to random women in the street going ‘Michelle is that you?’ Like he just completely lost it.
“And my little sister comes running out and she’s just like ‘Mum’s gone, mum’s gone’.
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An emotional Dylan recounting the night of the Manchester Arena attack on SAS: Who Dares Wins. Credit: Channel 4
“Unfortunately my mum got caught in the head and she was pronounced dead the next day, and that’s your new reality.
“I had to become a man, straight away, because my dad was a broken man and my sister needed looking after.
“So I just adopted this persona, this happy, smiling, ‘we can do it, look at our family’. And we thrive staff, we really do.”
His story left even the senior military personnel moved, with ex-Navy SEAL Remi Adeleke describing Dylan as ‘honourable and strong’.
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Jason Fox then commented: “Tough that. Poor b*stard.”
Dylan added in Sunday’s episode of SAS: Who Dares Wins: “I lost my mum. I lost the key part to our family. And I owe her to be the best person I can be.
“So I will keep striving for the moon, and I will keep working hard every day, and be a strong person for my family.”
Featured image: Channel 4
TV & Showbiz
Five Greater Manchester-based artists we’ve been listening to this month | December 2025
Danny Jones
This is it: the last Greater Manchester music round-up of the year, only a couple of days late due to a mix of the post-NYE 48-hour hangover and quite possibly still being in a largely mince pie-induced food coma.
In all seriousness, 2025 has been an absolute belter not just for music but the North, in particular, and especially here in Manchester.
We know we say it all the time, but we really are blessed and well beyond lucky to live in one of the creative and audio capitals on planet Earth.
So, for one last time (an Audio North encore, if you will), please give it up for the amazing musicians based in and around Greater Manchester that we were listening to in December.
Five local artists we’ve been listening to this past month
1. Concrete Club
First off is some deeply satisfying British indie in the shape of Concrete Club – a fitting name for a band based in an ever-growing metropolis, swept up in a sea of cranes and never-ending construction. Intentional? Unsure, but given they formed in 2022, it makes sense and sounds as good as they do.
Vocally, it can take a minute to get used to frontman and bassist Jonny Brewster’s approach, as it swings between everything from Fran from Red Rum Club, Brandon Flowers and White Lies’ Harry McVeigh. There’s some serious range on show, and it makes seeing where each track goes next exciting in itself.
Not only is it extremely impressive, but once you get used to the minor whiplash, it can often feel like you’re getting an ever-so-slightly different singing style each time. In terms of tracks to start with, we’d recommend ‘Relentless’, ‘Jackie Don’t Mind’ and ‘Electric Sunrise’, but there’s plenty of breadth to enjoy in their easily-digestible discography. They even got the nod from the late, great Mani. RIP to a legend.
This one's for Mani. Our mentor, our champion and our friend. We can't describe how much we'll miss him – and we'll leave it at that.
Next up is some unapologetic girl rock, which may have been born in the West Midlands, but solo artist Lissy Taylor is fast taking her music all over, with the ride so far taking her across the UK, Europe and even the United States, before posting up here in Manchester.
We’ll admit that seeing any musician donning a Stoke City shirt whilst performing live on BBC coverage was always going to catch our eye, but after we learned she had also become the first woman from the area to ever be signed by Universal, she held our attention. She might not be the finished article just yet, but you can tell she’s a woman on a mission.
More than a decade into her career, and now based in our fair city, you can tell that Taylor has more confidence and conviction than ever: you can hear it in her music. It started in 2023 with our fave, ‘Feel For Me’, and has spread into tunes like ‘Life Changing’ and her latest single ‘Jealous’. Give them a go.
3. Plastic Heart
They say three is the magic number, and judging by what we’ve heard so far from Manc alternative rock outfit Plastic Heart, they just might be on to something. Even with just a few properly studio-produced and finished tunes on the internet, they already have a very well-defined sound, and it’s got us hyped.
A five-piece from in and around Greater Manchester, these lot look like they’re off on the right foot, as they’re not just getting themselves about on social media but, most importantly, they’re clearly busy at work writing, rehearsing and recording a solid first batch of material.
In terms of what is out there so far, you’ll get hints of Vukovi/PVRIS in ‘Hear My Call’ and ‘Tension’; plus, based on their little teaser on Instagram, we’re looking forward to the fully-fledged version of another as-yet-unreleased song, ‘Ashes’. Get on board from the start and thank us later when that first EP drops.
From yet another female-led group to another fun, albeit very kind of vocalist, but one that we have been left very intrigued by, to say the least. We’ll begin by assuring that, yes, this is their name, and no, there are no typos in the spelling; this Manchester-based project isn’t like much you’ll have heard before.
We came across them via their show alongside equally unique poet and musician Edward Barton, as they joined up with the veteran artist and all-round eccentric at The Yard, as well as having written with each other earlier in the year. At first glance, they seem just as idiosyncrantic, charmingly unserious and entirely singular as he is, but we suspect there’s more to come.
The lyrics are arguably even more anecdotal and amusing, and rather conveniently, we can only find two tracks on Spotify, so you can similarly get up to speed on this very intriguing concept before falling into what we can only imagine will go on to be a pretty wild Bandcamp wormhole.
5. Chloe Slater
One more fantastic artist doing wonders for women in music, for good measure, shall we? Plenty of you will have no doubt heard of Bournemouth-born singer-songwriter and 0161 adoptee, Chloe Slater, but we’ll confess it’s taken us far too long to dive deep into her full catalogue.
It was probably one of the biggest musical mistakes we made this past 12 months, but we will be rectifying it as one of our first New Year’s Resolutions. Going from a somewhat disaffected uni dropout to an opinionated, outspoken and politically charged lyricist – she’s been a Northerner in spirit, alright.
Touching everything from regional and generational challenges, we struggle to play favourites, but sod it: ‘Price On Fun’, ‘Harriet’, ‘Nothing Shines On This Island’, ‘Death Trap’, ‘Tiny Screens’. Just trust us and listen to every second of this up-and-comer who’s already supported fellow rising alt-pop star Role Model and, coincidentally, is a dead ringer for actor Daisy Edgar-Jones…
So that’s it for another year, only the best part is we’ll be keeping this show on the road all throughout 2026 as we hunt for more local music legends in the making.
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With that in mind, if you’ve got suggestions for Manchester-based bands we should listen to next or know a native who you believe is the next best thing, please do drop them in the comments.
Oh, and if you want even more of our favourite artists over the past year, why not check out the list of what The Manc, HootandThe Sheff team named as the top albums of 2025?
You may have heard of the funny Star Wars stripper show or even seen clips of it online, but rumour has it that nothing can quite prepare you for the cheekiness of seeing this romp in the flesh.
In case you’ve been completely immersed in the dark side until now, here’s what you can expect:
Now well over a decade into its success and more than 200 Las Vegas shows, ‘The Empire Strips Back’ made its long-awaited transatlantic debut earlier this year.
Getting away at London’s Riverside Studios from May and enjoying a run until this past August, the comedy-driven twist on the classic Star Wars stories and beloved sci-fi characters was an instant hit with us Brits.
It started in Australia way back in 2011 and has gone not only to tour across Europe, but land a coveted residency at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Nevada.
Fast, funny, feisty and by all accounts, fantastic.
Now set to seek out new padawans and storm-strippers all over the cosmos, and by that we mean the UK, ‘The Empire Strips Back: Burlesque Parody’ is coming to Manchester.
Set to land at Depot Mayfield in the New Year – next spring, specifically, we cannot wait to see how this goes down with Northern crowds.
The Manc leg is scheduled to kick off on 6 March and last until 8 May, 2026, with various dates and times of day available.
It’s also worth noting that this two-hour show, including intermission, is a strictly 18+ only event; if you’re interested, you can find out more info and grab your tickets right HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
18th April 2022 
