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
Mancs wanted to take part in a new series of the ‘hardest quiz show on TV’
Emily Sergeant
Call yourself a clever clogs? The BBC is currently looking for contestants to take part in what is widely considered the hardest quiz show on TV.
That’s right – Only Connect is back for another series on BBC Two.
Presented by Victoria Coren Mitchell and first broadcast all the way back in 2008, Only Connect takes TV quizzing to the next level, as it sees two teams compete against each other by finding connections between seemingly unrelated clues.
In this quiz show – which viewers have dubbed one of the most challenging there is – knowledge only takes you so far, as the ability to think laterally is also deemed ‘vitally important’.
A casting call for the upcoming 2027 series has been shared on the BBC website, with people from Greater Manchester encouraged to apply.
Mancs wanted to take part in a new series of the ‘hardest quiz show on TV’ / Credit: BBC
The casting call reads: “The popular BBC Two quiz show presented by Victoria Coren Mitchell returns for a new series in 2027.
“Only Connect is seeking teams of three players OR single applicants or teams of two looking for like-minded teammates to pool their combined wits to solve fiendish conundrums and vexing puzzles.
“This is the quiz series where, as in life itself, knowledge will only take you so far: patience and lateral thinking are also vital. It’s all about making connections between things which may appear, at first glance, not to be connected at all.”
Reckon you’ve got what it takes then? Applications are now open, and all applicants must be aged 18 or over and a resident in the UK or Channel Islands.
Channel 4 is looking for Mancs who think they can survive the apocalypse for a new TV series
Lydia Mastrolonardo
Have you always wanted to see how long you’d last in an apocalypse?
Well now’s your chance, as Apocalypse is potentially coming back to Channel 4 for a second series, with producers having put out a nationwide casting call for contestants willing to take part.
The casting call simply reads: “Do you think you have what it takes to survive the end of the world?”
Described as a dystopian series designed to test the creativity, resourcefulness, and resilience of our nation, Apocalypse sees players are pushed out of their comfort zones and put to the ultimate test.
In the series, ordinary people are tasked with surviving for 28 days in an abandoned city – used previously only for the military to practice urban warfare – with no food, running water, electricity or heat.
Produced by The Garden – which is part of ITV Studios – for Channel 4, the show’s creators are now calling on Mancs and people up and down the country with the ‘courage and ingenuity’ to compete, to get in touch and apply for the potential second series.
Does your mate always bang on after watching a post-apocalyptic film that they would’ve done things differently? Or is the news at the moment freaking you out and you want to give the end of the world a bit of a practice run? Either way, sign up, test that plan you’ve built in your head, and see if you’ve really got what it takes.
Applications are now open, and all you need to do is fill in a short application form and one of the production team will get back to you if they would like to proceed. Come on, let’s prove what Mancs are made of.
Daisy Jackson -
18th April 2022 
