Channel Seven has reportedly opted not to renew the popular reality series SAS Australia in a shock decision which has stunned TV insiders.
Australian SAS Association Chairman Martin Hamilton-Smith discusses the Defence Minister’s delay in awarding a posthumous Victoria Cross to a soldier who served in Vietnam.
There are concerns in the veterans community over Richard Marles stalling the decision to act on a recommendation to posthumously award the honour to Private Richard Leslie Norden.
“Two years is a very long time – Private Norden’s bravery was extraordinary,” Mr Hamilton-Smith told Sky News host Chris Kenny.
SAS: Australia is based on the British series of the same name and pits a group of celebrities against each other as they complete a gruelling training course designed to replicate a number of elements of the actual special forces.
Previous seasons have seen stars forced to abseil off buildings, crawl through claustrophobic underground tunnels and dangle off the side of helicopters.
Seven was understood to be close to greenlighting another series of the survival program helmed by no-nonsense “chief instructor” and fan favourite Ant Middleton.
SAS Australia contestants during the fourth season of the military training series. Picture: Seven.
Middleton, 43, is a former UK Special Forces soldier, Royal Marines Commando, and Royal Engineer in the British Army.
However, on Monday the Daily Mail Australia revealed the fifth season had not been commissioned and the future of the series is uncertain.
Sources at Screentime, the production company behind SAS: Australia, told the newspaper that initial casting discussions took place for the upcoming series before Seven pulled the plug.
Producers have also attracted controversy in the past for the calibre of “celebrities” cast in the show, which have included convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby and jailed fraudster and former WAG Arabella Del Busso.
SAS Australia’s Ant Middleton. Picture: Supplied.
The most recent season of SAS was filmed in the deserts of Jordan while earlier seasons were filmed in New South Wales in the Snowy Mountains, Capertee Valley, and Blue Mountains.
TV insiders were reportedly surprised by the decision after the relatively strong performance of the fourth season finale, which drew an impressive 1.85 million viewers across Australia and streaming.
While SAS will not return to Seven, an industry insider told the Daily Mail that rival network Channel Nine has since expressed interest in picking up the series for next year.
“Channel Nine have shown interest in picking up the show for 2025,” a source claimed.
The update comes amid broader budget cuts across all three commercial free-to-air broadcasters due to a decline in advertising revenue and shrinking linear TV audiences.
Over at Channel Ten, a large drop in audience and revenue has forced the troubled network to axe a number of its tent-pole reality series, including the Bachelor and the Masked Singer.