Anthony Middleton (born 22 September 1980) is a British adventurer, writer, television personality and former UK Special Forces soldier, Royal Marines Commando, and

Royal Engineer The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

. He is best known as the former Chief Instructor on the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

television series '' SAS: Who Dares Wins'', a role he held from 2015 until 2021. Middleton also appeared as the Captain in the adventure/reality-show ''Mutiny'' and the survival show ''Escape''. In 2018 he climbed Everest for the TV show ''Extreme Everest with Ant Middleton''.

Career

Military service

Middleton joined the army in 1998 at the age of 17 where he served in the 9 Parachute Squadron RE and served tours of duty in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

in 1999 and

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

in 2001. After leaving the army he later enlisted in the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

on 2nd may 2005. He passed the 32 week commando course on 20th Jan 2006 with 898 troop, winning the King's Badge for best all round recruit, and was posted to D Company,

40 Commando 40 Commando RM is a battalion-sized formation of the British Royal Marines and subordinate unit within 3 Commando Brigade, the principal Commando formation, under the Operational Command of Commander in Chief Fleet. Their barracks are at Norton M ...

. In 2007 he did his first tour in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

. In 2008 he joined the

Special Boat Service The Special Boat Service (SBS) is the special forces unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The SBS can trace its origins back to the Second World War when the Army Special Boat Section was formed in 1940. After the Second World War, the Roya ...

, serving for 4 years. After leaving the military, Middleton worked as a security guard for VIPs, and later as a security expert in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

and for various

West African West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, ...

governments.

Television

Middleton was the Chief Instructor on ''SAS: Who Dares Wins'', a reality quasi-military training television programme produced by

, which was first broadcast in 2015. The show propelled Middleton into celebrity limelight. ''Mutiny'', an adventure/reality crossover show, screened on UK television in February 2017, with Middleton starring as boat captain alongside eight volunteering participants. The show was a re-enactment of the

Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship from their captain, Lieutenant William Bligh, and se ...

and Middleton described the experience as "mentally speaking, the hardest thing I've ever done". In March 2021, Middleton was dropped by Channel 4 over his personal conduct.

Publications

In 2017, Middleton co-authored his first book, ''SAS: Who Dares Wins: Leadership Secrets from the Special Forces'', with his fellow TV presenters and Special Forces colleagues Jason Fox, Matthew "Ollie" Ollerton and Colin Maclachlan. Middleton's autobiography, ''First Man In: Leading from the Front'', was published in 2018, becoming a Number 1 ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...

'' best-seller. His second book, ''The Fear Bubble: Harness Fear and Live Without Limits'', was published in 2019, and was also No.1 on ''The Sunday Times'' best-seller chart. His third book, ''Zero Negativity'', was published in 2020. Ant features in Coach Mike Chadwick's audiobook The Red On Revolution, published in 2022.

Other

On 14 May 2018, Middleton summited

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow ...

with Ed Wardle, completing the climb over a five and a half week period. The pair nearly died when they were caught in a

blizzard A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow is not falling ...

behind a group of ten climbers who hampered their progress during the descent. In November 2019 Middleton was appointed as Chief Cadet and Honorary

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the Royal Navy's Volunteer Cadet Corps. He left the position nine months later amidst controversy surrounding a comment he made on Twitter, which appeared to compare

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police brut ...

protesters with the

English Defence League The English Defence League (EDL) is a far-right, Islamophobic organisation in the United Kingdom. A social movement and pressure group that employs street demonstrations as its main tactic, the EDL presents itself as a single-issue movement ...

as extremists and "scum", though he later said he was not equating the two groups.

Personal life

Middleton was born in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

, Hampshire, and brought up in France. Middleton was convicted of the

unlawful wounding Grievous bodily harm (often abbreviated to GBH) is a term used in English criminal law to describe the severest forms of battery. It refers to two offences that are created by sections 18 and 20 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861. Th ...

of one police officer and

common assault Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally c ...

upon a second in 2013. He was sentenced to 14 months in prison, of which he served four months.

Filmography

Television

Live Tours

Works

Non-fiction

*''SAS: Who Dares Wins: Leadership Secrets from the Special Forces'' (Headline, 2016) *''Leader et soldat d'élite: Leçons des forces spéciales'' (Talent Editions, 2019) *''Mental Fitness: 15 Rules to Strengthen Your Body and Mind'' (HarperCollins, 2021) *''Mission: Total Resilence'' (Red Shed, 2022) *''The Wall'' (HarperCollins, 2022) *''Mission: Total Confidence'' (Red Shed, 2023)

The Mindset Trilogy

*''First Man In: Leading from the Front'' (HarperCollins, 2018) *''The Fear Bubble: Harness Fear and Live Without Limits'' (HarperCollins, 2019) *''Zero Negativity: The Power of Positive Thinking'' (HarperCollins, 2020)

Fiction

*''Cold Justice'' (Sphere, 2021) *''Red Mist'' (Sphere, 2023)

Medals/Awards

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Middleton, Ant 1980 births Living people Military personnel from Portsmouth Male actors from Portsmouth English expatriates in France Royal Engineers soldiers 21st-century Royal Marines personnel Special Boat Service personnel Royal Navy personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) British military personnel of the Sierra Leone Civil War English television personalities British summiters of Mount Everest Royal Marines ranks