A FITNESS fanatic went through gruelling challenges as part of a new reality TV show.

Tracy Beavan, 48, of Seymour Road, Hadleigh, was chosen to take part in the BBC2 show Special Forces – Ultimate Hell Week.

Hosted by cricketer Freddie Flintoff, the series features 29 men and women who battle through army tests in a bid to be the country’s toughest recruit.

Mrs Beavan said she applied after she saw an advert on Facebook.

She said: “There was an advert asking ‘are you Britain’s toughest?’ and I thought ‘I’ll give that a go’. Some of my family were concerned about my age, but I wanted to show that older people can do this sort of thing.

“We had to have interviews and go for a weekend away in Brecon Beacon and we got an idea about what was to come.”

Recruits are put through demanding exercises based on the special forces’ selection methods – every 48 hours the group are put through a series of challenges designed to break them down. The first episode, on Sunday, showed the group meeting former US Navy Seals and being put through four hours of physical exercise, while they were continuously soaked with cold water.

Mrs Beavan added: “It was the toughest thing both mentally and physically I have ever done.

“The first challenge was cold water, we were plunged into cold water and had to endure the elements.

“We were woken up in the middle of the night and had to get up. They would scream in your face and shout and you “It was mentally challenging because they restricted us going to the toilet, sleeping and eating food.

“I knew that when we were given food we might not be fed again for around 24 hours. I think the idea was to break us and reduce the team to half as quickly as possible.”

Mrs Beavan, who is now preparing for the World Championship Obstacle Course Race in Ohio in October, said she couldn’t continue after she got hypothermia.

She said: “They pushed us until we just couldn’t do any more.

“The cold water was my nemesis, just before I left the competition I was dragged out of the water and medics told me I had mild hypothermia.”

! The next episode will be aired at 9pm on Sunday on BBC2.