{"id":103950,"date":"2025-08-31T00:01:20","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T00:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/103950\/"},"modified":"2025-08-31T00:01:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T00:01:20","slug":"even-though-i-am-really-girly-i-love-a-wee-fight-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/103950\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Even though I am really girly, I love a wee fight\u2019 \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI could have told you on day one that she was going to make it,\u201d says TV interrogator Catherine \u2018Erine\u2019 Neill of how she knew instantly that former drug mule Michaella McCollum<\/a> was going to be a serious contender on Channel 4\u2019s hit show Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne, because she\u2019s Northern Irish, but also because of what she\u2019s already been through at such a young age: what we threw at her on the TV show and in those mock interrogations is nothing compared to what she\u2019s been through in real life.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I was very proud of her and pleased for her. I know she\u2019s been getting a wee bit of bad press, but I don\u2019t really agree with that, because everybody deserves a second chance in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MichaellaMichaella McCollum was one of three winners on the latest series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins (Pete Dadds\/Channel 4\/PA) <\/p>\n

Indeed, the 30-year-old Dungannon woman – who served two-and-a-half years in a Peruvian prison for cocaine smuggling between 2014 and 2016 – was one of just three contenders to pass muster in Monday night\u2019s finale, alongside former professional footballer Troy Deeney<\/a> (35) and singer Lucy Spraggan<\/a> (32), having endured eight episodes of gruelling physical and mental challenges.<\/p>\n

\"‘Even<\/a>\"‘I<\/a><\/p>\n

The three winners were whittled down from five finalists, the toughest of an original group of 14 celebrities who took on the show\u2019s SAS training-styled challenges – including the climactic episode\u2019s interrogation-based round, which found former British army woman O\u2019Neill teaming up with SAS: Who Dares Wins\u2019 mysterious Scottish-accented Umpire (who \u201ccannot be identified for security reasons\u201d), chief instructor Billy Billingham and directing staff Jason Fox, Rudy Reyes and Chris Oliver, to push the contestants to their psychological limits.<\/p>\n

\"LucyLucy Spraggan, Troy Deeney and Michaella McCollum were the winners of this year’s Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins (Pete Dadds) \"AA group shot of all the recruits from its reality spin-off series, Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins (Pete Dadds\/Channel 4\/PA) <\/p>\n

Among those who failed to make the grade were the two unsuccessful finalists, drag artist and DJ, Bimini, and Love Island veteran Adam Collard, plus boxer Conor Benn, S Club 7 singer Hannah Spearitt, former model and alleged David Beckham lover Rebecca Loos, dancer Louie Spence and The Traitors winner Harry Clark.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve noticed with the show and females in general that women have physical strength to a certain point, but then the mind has to kick in,\u201d comments Co Down-born Neill (48), who served 24 years in the military prior to bringing her experience to the entertainment realm on the Channel 4 hit and its American counterpart, Fox TV\u2019s Special Forces: World\u2019s Toughest Challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll see with a lot of the girls in the show, they make it to the end because they just have that mental resilience. And Michaella definitely has that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ErineErine Neill and her dog, Rolo. PICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN <\/p>\n

Neill, whose brother Marcus Hunter-Neill is better known as drag star Lady Portia Di\u2019Monte<\/a>, is also quick to praise McCollum\u2019s fellow finalist, Bimini, who almost caught her out during one interrogation session with a bit of good old-fashioned flattery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was interrogating Bim and the next thing he says to me, \u2018Oh, I love your lashes\u2019,\u201d recalls the former Grenadier Guard, who joined the army straight out of school at 17 and went on to become a physical training instructor putting new recruits through their paces.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenuinely, I almost said, \u2018oh, thanks very much, I did them myself\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cLuckily, I managed to keep a straight face and then bollocked him for saying it, but secretly I was really chuffed that this drag queen had given me this lovely compliment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BiminiBimini was a finalist on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins <\/p>\n

As for what led her to join the military at such a young age, the Co Down woman explains that it was partly a challenge to herself as well as following in her father and grandfather\u2019s footsteps.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am the son my dad never had,\u201d jokes Neill, who served in Afghanistan during her army career and trained troops in conduct under capture techniques.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth my brothers are gay, which is wonderful, but they are not military-oriented at all. And even though I am really girly, I love a wee fight. <\/p>\n

Even though I am really girly, I love a wee fight. <\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Erine Neill<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I always sort of knew that it was in my blood. When the opportunity arose to go to Palace Barracks and get signed up, there was no hesitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was quite strange, because nobody thought I could do it. And I think this is what actually drove me: being a five-foot-nothing 17-year-old at the time, I had girlfriends saying to me, \u2018Oh, you\u2019ll never make it. You\u2019re too tiny. Your feet are too small\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember thinking, like, \u2018what have my feet got to do with anything?\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once enlisted, the Co Down woman admits she was so focused on just proving herself capable of being a soldier that she hadn\u2019t thought much beyond making the grade.<\/p>\n

\"ErineErine Neill is a former Grenadier Guard. PICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN <\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted to get through basic training,\u201d says Neill, who is married and shares her home with her beloved Chihuahuas, Poppy and Rolo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, all of a sudden, I was through basic training. I was like, \u2018oh my god, I\u2019m in the army now\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then it took off: I was posted to the Grenadier Guards, and then it was promotion after promotion and overseas trips. And it was just utterly fantastic. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe army grounds you. You make friends for life, you travel, you get a pension – it just sets you up. And you also just feel like you are doing your bit.<\/p>\n

\"ErineErine Neill with her colleagues on SAS: Who Dares Wins <\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, if I died tomorrow, I would die content that I have left my footprint.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the subject of how she transitioned from army life to television, it seems that one of those aforementioned \u2018friends for life\u2019 put in a good word.<\/p>\n

\u201cA very good friend of mine, Debs Mackenzie, who was the female interrogator before me on the show, was leaving,\u201d explains Neill, a committed animal-lover who volunteers at The Barn Animal Rescue in Newtownards and works with the charity Animal Equality UK.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe rang me up and said, \u2018I\u2019m hanging up with boots – I want to put your name forward\u2019. I said, \u2018OK, sure\u2019, never for one second thinking that it would ever happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cSix weeks later, I was in New Zealand filming for Fox and Channel 4.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ErineErine interrogating a subject on SAS: Who Dares Wins <\/p>\n

Amusingly, it seems the American network takes quite a different approach from its UK counterpart in terms of how aggressive they want the directing staff and interrogators to be on-screen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Fox, the brief was, \u2018you can\u2019t swear, you can\u2019t really grab them, and you can\u2019t really be too nasty\u2019. I was like, \u2018what?!\u2019. I had no concept of how to simulate a captive environment without swearing and being aggressive.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end, I kind of went \u2018f*** it\u2019 – I was effing and jeffing away and they ended up just bleeping me out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ErineErine with TV colleague Rudy Reyes <\/p>\n

Having originally signed on to the shows back in 2023, Neill reveals that they are made on a year-by-year basis, with no long-term contracts – meaning she\u2019s still not certain that we\u2019ll see her back on our screens next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey may not contact me again,\u201d admits the Co Down woman.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut from the feedback I\u2019ve been getting, I think both Fox and Channel 4 seem happy with everything – so I\u2019m certainly hoping they will.\u201d<\/p>\n

All episodes of the most recent series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins are available now via channel4.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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