John Barrowman on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, before he quit. He looks out as SAS trainer stands behind him.
John Barrowman quit Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins after just 32 minutes (Picture: Pete Dadds/Channel 4/PA Wire)

Actor John Barrowman has quit Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins just 32 minutes after he arrived at base camp.

The Doctor Who star, who opened up about the flashing allegations he faced in 2021, didn’t remain in training for long as threw up after the first challenge and instantly quit.

Barrowman, 57, is part of the sixth series of the Channel 4 reality show, which sees celebrities including Boris Johnson’s sister Rachel and Strictly Come Dancing star Pete Wicks taking part in SAS winter warfare training in the south islands of New Zealand.

The brutal series often results in injuries, and plenty of tears as the stars undertake gruelling challenges.

After the contestants put on their uniforms and got ready to see their accommodation, Barrowman, started heaving and told the group ‘I’m out’.

He walked away and vomited on the ground, prompting Mark ‘Billy’ Billingham to ask if he would like to see a doctor, to which the Torchwood actor replied: ‘No… I’m done.’

John Barrowman stands in front of mountains in promotional picture for Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins
The Doctor Who star quit the gruelling series after just one task (Picture: Pete Dadds/Channel 4/PA Wire)

John Barrowman vomits as he quits Celebrity SAS after just 32 minutes
He vomited on the ground while waiting to go into the barracks (Picture: BBC)

He added: ‘I just… it’s not for me, I know who I am and what I’m about, it’s not for me.’

The narrator of the programme said: ‘After only 32 minutes on base, number 13 John is the first recruit to leave the course.’

Fans were not impressed and took to X to ask if the actor was ‘paid for that’ short stint on the show.

‘I hope John Barrowman wasn’t paid for that pathetic effort,’ wrote Neil Woodward as Marky asked: ‘Already!?’

‘What a disgrace.. Please tell me he didn’t get paid for that c**p,’ added @Gunnermighty while Karen Evans said: ‘He’s bogged off already!’

John Barrowman leans over and vomits on Celebrity SAS. Other celebrities look at him.
He instantly declared he was ‘done’ and walked away (Picture: BBC)

John Barrowman holds hands out as he quits Celebrity SAS
He ripped the number off his arm and walked away from the group (Picture: BBC)

Claire shared: ‘That was totally weird – John Barrowman threw up multiple times and then said “this is not what I’m about” as he quit – what was that all about?’

Maria laughed: ‘Can’t believe John Barrowman quit the only show that was actually willing to give him a job after just 32 minutes. What a prat.’

This comes after comedian Shazia Mirza, 51, told and other press ahead of Celebrity SAS’s launch the Arrowverse actor voluntarily left when they returned to camp after an ice bath challenge.

‘We all failed the task,’ she explained. ‘Then we got back to camp and they made us go head first into an ice pack with our clothes on.

‘John Barrowman just thought, “F*** this. I don’t need to do this.” And he handed his arm band in after that.’

John Barrowman sits on bench opposite Mark Billingham as he quits Celebrity SAS.
Barrowman declined medical attention from Billingham’s team(Picture: BBC)

During the episode, Barrowman – who was making his TV comeback after he was accused of exposing himself to fellow stars on the set of Doctor Who in what was described as ‘inappropriate pranks’ – addressed the accusations that he had repeatedly exposed himself on the set of the BBC One sci-fi series and its sister show Torchwood.

He said: ‘The press made the allegation that I was going around putting my d*** on everybody’s shoulders.

‘Having that happen to me ruined me, but this course is going to help me push through this and I want people to see the kind of person that I really am.’

He later added: ‘On Doctor Who and Torchwood, I had to do a lot of nude scenes. If I were being stupid, I would do something stupid.

John Barrowman sits with hands folded while on talk show. His hair is white and he wears blue jumper.
John was left heaving and vomiting after the challenge (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

‘I would shake and waggle or I might do a scene where I might have one of my bollocks hanging out.

‘The press made it out that I was a sexual deviant. We’ve all done stupid things and silly things, but what’s been said about me will never go away now.’

In an interview ahead of the new series airing,the former Dancing On Ice judge also recalled how heavily he was impacted when he believed that he had been ‘cancelled’ due to the accusations, saying: ‘I had thoughts of suicide, going out and trying to do certain things and harm myself, and a couple of times debating how I was going to kill myself.’

He added that the thought of his family and friends, including his husband Scott Gill, made him reconsider.

John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness poses in TARDIS for Doctor Who.
John also addressed the accusations that he had repeatedly exposed himself on the set of Doctor Who (Picture: BBC Studios/James Pardon)

Barrowman also shared that he ‘lost a lot of trust in other people’, as there were some individuals who he thought would be there for him, but weren’t as they were ‘scared’.

Contestants in this series also include former Olympic gymnast Ellie Downie, comedian Tez Ilyas, professional basketball player and Love Island star Ovie Soko and world heavyweight champion boxer Lani Daniels.

Reality TV Star Bianca Gascoigne, former England rugby captain Chris Robshaw, TV Presenter Cherry Healey, former professional boxer Anthony Ogogo, Love Island contestant Georgia Harrison, reality star Bobby Norris and former Geordie Shore star Marnie Simpson complete the line-up.

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