Manu Feildel explains why he withdrew from SAS Australia

After a tearful exit from SAS Australia, celebrity chef Manu Feildel has opened up about the psychological impact of the brutal reality show.

Manu Feildel has opened up about the psychological impact of SAS Australia the morning after his dramatic exit from the show, revealing he “lost sleep” over one of the challenges.

The former My Kitchen Rules judge threw in the towel last night, boldly handing in his number to chief instructor Ant Middleton after hearing what terror was in store for the day.

Opting to bow out before the challenge even started, Manu later told the camera: “I came on this course to prove something to myself, and I just realised I don’t need to prove anything.

“I’ve got a f**king good life. I’ve got a f**king good life, and I want it back.”

Manu was the third celeb to voluntarily withdraw, after Brynne Edelsten and Erin Holland, who yesterday shared her brutal injuries from the show. Former Labor MP Emma Husar quit after Manu as she was unable to continue with a leg injury.

Manu reached the end of his tether in Wednesday night’s episode.

Before making the decision to quit, Manu had sat through Ant’s description of the challenge ahead, which involved being seated in a vehicle which was to be plunged into water.

The celebrity recruits were told they’d need to hold their breath until they were given instructions to swim away.

“If you f**k this up, we will be dragging your carcasses out of the water and f**king pumping the water out of your lungs,” Ant warned.

Bolting out of his seat, Manu handed over his number as the instructor looked at him in disbelief.

Middleton was not impressed by the move.

When asked about the moment on The Morning Show, the chef said while he looked calm at the time, he was far from it beneath the surface.

“I was not relaxed at all, inside I was bawling, I was freaking out. The previous day, there was this tunnel that you had to go through which I did not get to do, because Sam Burgess was in there for too long, but we were promised that we would be doing that again in the next two days, and I lost sleep over that already,” he explained.

“Claustrophobia is something I suffer from, and I thought I would see what happened the next day, and when I saw the Jeep hanging from a crane over the water, and what would happen, I was out. There was no way to change my mind.”

Manu explained why he decided to bow out this morning.

Asked about his preparation for the hardcore reality show, Manu said he “trained for six months”, but when it came to the mental aspect of the gruelling challenges, he wasn’t ready.

“I was the fittest I have ever been, I was ready to rock, I was excited to be on the show, but the psychological stuff, it is like they are taking over your brain and taking control of it, and it is up to you to take control back and I was not able to do that.”

Viewers watched as Manu broke down in tears on the phone to his wife after deciding to leave, telling her he was simply “done”.

“I don’t need to be here anymore,” he said. “I want to come home. I miss you more than this.”

The celebrity chef was seen crying on the phone to his wife.

Speaking this morning about what happened when he returned home, Manu said it took him a couple of weeks to “make peace” with his exit.

“At the end of the day the reason why I left was because I realised that I did not have anything to prove to anyone or myself at all. I don’t have any regrets.

“I went home and had a beautiful hot bath and meal and slept in my own bed and I was much better,” he added.