SAS Australia: Shane Warne’s emotional tribute to son, Jackson
Jackson Warne, has pulled out of reality show SAS Australia, saying the competition broke him and now Warnie has backed up his son in an emotional tribute.
Confidential
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Cricket great Shane Warne has paid tribute to his 21-year-old son for “pushing himself so hard” on controversial reality show SAS Australia.
Jackson Warne bowed out of the reality series on Tuesday night when he failed to keep up during a gruelling endurance challenge.
His departure leaves nine celebrities still competing on the series, which puts contestants through their paces in an SAS training course led by Chief Instructor Ant Middleton.
“Thankyou to @antmiddleton and everyone who supported Jackson on his amazing journey,” cricketer Warne wrote on Instagram. “I’m so glad everyone got to see what a wonderful, caring and thoughtful young man Jackson is. Love you so much.”
Jackson Warne has emotionally bowed out of reality show, SAS Australia.
The son of cricket great Shane Warne shed a tear as he pulled out of the competition when he failed to keep up during an endurance challenge.
“That is one thing I don’t like doing, letting people down,” he said. “If somebody expects so much of you and you disappoint, it is not really a good feeling but the course has physically and mentally broken me and I can’t do any more. I am walking away knowing that I gave it everything that I’ve got.”
The 21-year-old poker player phoned his famous father once back at the production base, breaking down as they spoke.
“I have learnt so much, it has changed my life,” he said, his dad responding: “Well done, you look exhausted. You have done unreal. We love you, we are so proud of you. You have pushed yourself, you have done so well, go and smash 20 burgers.”
Jackson added: “I came on this show to prove to myself that just because of my upbringing, which was very easy, that I could still go through all of the tough stuff and I feel like I did. I feel accomplished and satisfied.”
Earlier this week, Warne told Confidential he is determined to make a name for himself away from his famous father.
That said, the 21-year-old son of cricketing great Shane Warne harbours some guilt at letting Australia down for not following in his dad’s footsteps.
“The reason why I felt like I let Australia down was because subconsciously people would think usually that their dad was a player, that their son would at least give it a go,” Warne told The Daily Telegraph.
“I played every sport — AFL, badminton, lawn bowls, tennis, soccer, and cricket was the very last one I tried. It was just the pressure I guess. Cricket never really interested me. It didn’t fascinate me and my dad just wanted me to be happy.”
Warne is one of the standout contestants on reality show SAS Australia. Competing on the show has given him something to be proud of and an achievement away from his famous dad’s success.
“It has helped me a lot with confidence,” the 21-year-old told The Daily Telegraph. “It has made me my own person. I can say I have done something now. All I was doing up until this show really was gym and poker. I was way too comfortable and this gave me purpose.”
He fell in to poker, also a passion of his father, after finishing school. Gym and working out are his other great passions and he hopes through SAS Australia, he will go on to get his personal trainer licence.
“I’ve always wanted to be PT because I want to inspire, help and motivate people because I know what it was like to not be confident with myself physically,” he explained. “I do at least an hour (exercise) every day and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Everyone, when they go into the gym comes out a better person, physically and mentally. It is very rare that we walk of a gym worse off.”
Warne however said he is extremely proud of his father and doesn’t want to take away from his achievements.
One of the other major side stories to Warne’s appearance on SAS Australia has been his eating habits. In an earlier episode, he bonded with Schapelle Corby over the fact he has only ever tried 10 different foods in his life when he tried tomato soup for the first time.
His food previously had been limited to toast, cereal, eggs, bacon, hamburgers, pasta, pizza, lasagne and apples.
“Now I’ve realised I need to start eating veggies because I never ate them,” he said. “I don’t remember the last time I ate veggies, maybe in baby food. Seafood is the very last thing I am going to try, oysters and all of that sort of stuff is far away. What is next for me is mango and sushi.”
