GEORGIA HARRISON: I punched Boris Johnson's sister in the face

As the black hood was whipped off Georgia Harrison’s head, she found herself on a New Zealand mountain looking into the piercing eyes of a trained killer. But instead of quaking in her new military-style boots, she simply smiled. It’s not what ex-special forces soldier Mark ‘Billy’ Billingham expected from the pint-sized beauty, but that’s why Georgia signed up for TV’s toughest show, Channel 4’s Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. She had one mission – to shake off her victim status.

Just four months before taking on the gruelling course, Georgia had seen her ex-boyfriend, fellow reality star Stephen Bear, jailed for 21 months, ending three years of hell. The pair started dating after meeting on reality show The Challenge in 2019. But Georgia’s world came crashing down in 2020 when he secretly recorded them having sex on his home CCTV system and sold the footage online. An intimate moment with someone she thought she could trust spread across the internet like wildfire.

‘It went so horrifically viral, my postman’s probably seen it,’ Georgia says. ‘I felt I’d let myself and my family down, I should have seen it coming. How could I have been so stupid?’ The humiliation left her crippled with anxiety. ‘I barely left the house,’ she confesses. ‘When I did it was hard not to panic. I only wanted to be with my closest friends.’

But instead of accepting the shame and telling herself she was to blame for trusting Bear, Georgia made the bold decision to press charges and waive her anonymity to shine a spotlight on what many victims suffer. And she won. He was found guilty, jailed and ordered to pay her damages of more than £200,000.

Not only that, Georgia truly showed her mettle when she campaigned to have the law changed. Before her court win prosecutors in these cases had to show an intent to cause distress, which was incredibly hard for a victim to prove. Now sharing intimate images without consent, whatever the motive, is a criminal act.

Today she wants to put it all behind her, and taking on Celebrity SAS was a step forward. ‘People say going on SAS can turn trauma into power,’ says Georgia, who shot to fame a decade ago on The Only Way Is Essex. ‘It can be a powerful experience for facing what you’ve experienced in the past.

‘I started to feel I am more than just that situation. I was bored of being seen as a victim. We can’t control what will happen on our journey, but if we tap into mental strength we can overcome a lot,’ she says. ‘I want to inspire people to realise that, especially young women.’

Georgia joins an eclectic mix of famous faces including journalist Rachel Johnson, actor John Barrowman and former England rugby captain Chris Robshaw. Under the watchful eye of the directing staff – former SBS operators Jason Fox and Chris Oliver, ex-Recon Marine Rudy Reyes and Mark Billingham – the celebs go through a series of challenges. Georgia was determined not to let herself down.

‘These men have put their lives on the line and done unspeakable things for our country. The more you respect them, the more you want to do the course to the best of your ability and impress them.’

And she did just that in a brutal boxing bout against Boris Johnson’s sister. Georgia had heard Rachel, 59, boasting that she wasn’t worried about fighting having been the first girl at an all-boys school, but despite her petite frame Georgia delivered plenty of head-rattling blows before being declared the winner.

‘I was proud of myself,’ she says. ‘She’d been well cocky about the fight so I was a bit like, “Look, she’s willing to be punched in the face!” Rachel thinks I broke her nose, but she also made comments saying her nose was already broken. So I’m not sure. I’m not going to let her milk it!’

It’s not all success though, and Georgia did badly in one of the most iconic tasks, which sees celebs fall backwards off a high platform into water below. ‘We had to swim out to the pontoon first because if you hit the water directly at that temperature, you could have a heart attack.

‘I messed up. Then I had to stand there for another 30 minutes, getting even colder, watching everyone pass what I just epically failed.’

Georgia’s sworn to secrecy over how she fares on the rest of the course, but it’s safe to say that going on Celebrity SAS has washed away her victim status and she’s taking that fighting spirit into her next challenge.

Not content with changing the law once, she’s at it again, taking on web giants and even banks who profit from the abuse of revenge porn victims. Her mission is being filmed for a new ITV documentary.

‘There’s another loophole,’ she explains. ‘Even if you win your court case, your footage doesn’t become illegal, technically. A lot of these big companies can still host it on their platforms. I’m campaigning to get that changed. I’ve been in and out of parliament throughout the year, but I’m pretty confident it will.’

If the last few years have proved anything, Georgia’s not a woman to be messed with. And now she’s got a bit of SAS grit too, she’ll be unstoppable.

• Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, Sunday, 9pm, Channel 4