Anthony Ogogo is still in pain after experiencing frost bite while shooting Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.
The retired boxer and former Strictly Come Dancing contestant turned professional wrestler, who is signed to All Elite Wrestling and appeared on screen for the first time in a year in the preshow for the company’s Wembley Stadium event on Sunday, is set to appear in the 2024 series of the gruelling Channel 4 challenge show, and he admits the experience was difficult.
Speaking just before AEW’s huge All In London show, he told Metro.co.uk: ‘It was fun, it was just very hard! On telly, it’s just someone lifting a boat and you see them grimacing and you’re like, “That looks hard! That looks heavy!”
‘You can’t feel the weight of it. When you feel the weight of it – and then we were in New Zealand in their winter! I got frost bite, my two big toes are still numb from the experience. I’m sitting there, I’m shuddering!’
While former Olympian Ogogo takes himself in being “tough” – whether mentally or physically – he was caught aback by the manner he and his fellow cast members were pushed through their paces.
‘I feel like emotionally, physically, I’m a tough dude! I’ve done a lot in my life, I’ve gone through a lot in my life, I’m hardened. I’ve got thick skin,’ he smiled. ‘It genuinely was one of the hardest things I’ve done in my entire life.’
The 34-year-old actor believes he made himself a target by ‘drawing attention’ to himself when he should have been embracing the concept of a ‘grey man,’ which is required to be a top spy.
‘You’ll see I highlighted myself early doors which made it harder because the DS kind of picked on me a little bit,’ he admitted. ‘Spies aren’t drawing attention to themselves, they’re just going about their day, go in, do a very dangerous job, get out again – don’t make a racket.’
He laughed: ‘Now… I’m a peacock! I can’t be the grey man! I just can’t! I tried! On day two, I had quite an argument with somebody, and I was basically saying to DS, “Get him! he’s emotional! He’ll make good TV!” ‘
Ogogo hasn’t made much of an impression at AEW due to visa difficulties – his passport ‘went missing’ in transit when he returned to the UK to renew it – but he’s physically strong and ready to go.
‘It’s frustrating, but I make the best of it,’ he candidly admitted, noting he is taking on other projects – including SAS: Who Dares Wins, his own fitness app and a few film roles – to help his wrestling career.
‘I’m doing different things to build my brand so when I do get the phone call to come back, I’m going back bigger, better, the prestige behind me,’ he said. ‘All you can do is control things you can control, and I’m doing what I can do.’
Following recent rumours that he has signed an agreement with AEW that would keep him there until at least 2025, Ogogo has set ambitious expectations for future AEW events at Wembley Stadium.
‘I wanna be world champion, I wanna be the first British world champion, the first black world champion, this and that. I’m gonna leave my mark. I chose wrestling because it ticks other boxes,’ he explained.
‘I really wanna just have a good time and enjoy what happens. I would love to wrestle at Wembley, see my name – I wanna be one of the headliners, a total ego thing.
‘I wanna take a picture of the poster, a picture of me in front of it, wrestle, and I can sail into the sunset in 10 years time being very, very proud of everything I achieved.’
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins returns to Channel 4 next month, with Ogogo’s series following in 2024. AEW All In London returns to Wembley Stadium on August 25, 2024.
