SAS Australia: Firass Dirani calls Shannan Ponton a ‘redneck’

A war of words between Shannan Ponton and Firass Dirani has erupted with the actor calling the former Biggest Loser trainer a “redneck”.

A war of words between Shannan Ponton and Firass Dirani has erupted with the actor calling the former Biggest Loser trainer a “redneck”.

The two men are both contestants on Channel 7’s SAS Australia and were shown clashing in Tuesday night’s episode.

The following day, Ponton spoke to news.com.au and said about Dirani: “I honestly believe that he’s a sociopath in his behaviour.”

Ponton said Dirani repeatedly disrespected or spoke back to the show’s instructors (known as DS) and as a result all the other recruits were punished with physical tasks.

“Time and time again, we said, ‘Listen mate, you’ve got to stop this behaviour.’ And he said, ‘What behaviour?’” Ponton told news.com.au.

“It was as infuriating as it was confusing. At no stage did he ever assume responsibility for his actions. At no stage did he say sorry.

Shannan Ponton on SAS Australia.

“Some of the girls said to him, ‘Firass, all we want is an apology for what you did to us today,’ and it was never forthcoming. Even at the end, he never assumed responsibility for what he’d done. It was always some weird, inarticulate way to put together some story that didn’t make any sense.”

Dirani fired back at Ponton in an interview with the Daily Mail.

“I find it strange where this vile aggressive labelling behaviour is coming from?” Dirani told the publication. “I suspect there’s more prejudice against me than I imagined.”

He continued: “Feels like a redneck to me. Him and his followers. That’s called a line in the sand.”

Dirani, best known for his role on House Husbands and Underbelly: The Golden Mile, also had a crack at Ponton’s tattoos.

“What’s with his Maori tattoos?” Dirani said to the Daily Mail. “You’re embarrassing a whole culture. You are not worthy of such ancestral powerful artwork. You don’t even fall on the coat-tails of such warriors. You culture vulture.”

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Shannan Ponton is a former Biggest Loser trainer.

JESSICA ROWE DEFENDS FIRASS DIRANI

Jessica Rowe got to know Dirani on last year’s Channel 7 show, The Real Dirty Dancing.

Speaking to KIIS FM’s Kyle and Jackie O this morning, she said: “I want to stand up for Firass. He is a gorgeous guy.”

Rowe did acknowledge, however, that Dirani likes to “muck up” on set.

“When we worked together I’d say, ‘will you listen to what they’re saying? Don’t disappear!’” she recalled.

“He’s a jokester. Like, we’d be trying to film a shot and he’d grab someone’s handbag in the shot and it’s like, ‘we’re gonna have to do this all gain (for continuity reasons), why are you doing this?’”

The Real Dirty Dancing cast.

Rowe told the radio duo that Dirani “has such a good heart” and wants the other SAS Australia recruits to “back off” him.

“Let’s remember, it is a reality TV show,” Rowe said. “They’ve got to make it entertaining.

“When they edit things they want to have particular storylines so we’re not seeing absolutely everything. And obviously when you are sleep-deprived and you have to sit in freezing water and run a long way because Firass is mucking around thinking it’s funny, you would be annoyed,” she said. “However, he’s a great guy. They’re making him out to be a villain that he’s not.”.

FIRASS DIRANI UNHAPPY WITH EDITING

Firass Dirani last week claimed he was being edited to appear as a “villain” on the show.

After the second episode of the Channel 7 show aired, Dirani posted a video on his Instagram story in which he said: “I knew it. I knew they were gonna make me into the villain. There has to be a villain, ladies and gentleman, and lo and behold, right here, this is it.”

But in a chat with news.com.au, SAS Australia directing staff Mark ‘Billy’ Billingham dismissed Dirani’s claim and said: “He should be actually grateful to be edited the way they did. He’s a lot worse than that.”

According to Billingham, Dirani “came across as arrogant” and “had a terrible attitude”.

“It came to the point where the rest of the celebrities were getting really fed up with him. That’s not a showpiece – he really was messing up all the time and he could not keep his mouth shut, no matter what you said to him.”

Firass on SAS. Picture: Nigel Wright

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Billingham told news.com.au that Dirani “drew attention to himself for all the wrong reasons” and said the actor would constantly roll his eyes when being interviewed by the SAS Australia instructors.

“They’ve more than fairly edited him to be honest because he was a pain in the a**e,” Billingham said. “I mean, he’s a nice guy, don’t get me wrong … but he’s not a personality that you’d want to go out drinking with to be honest. He’s a bit of a pain.”

SAS Australia continues on Monday night at 7.30pm on Channel 7