Connor Swindells discusses harsh weight loss for SAS: Rogue Heroes season 2

Connor Swindells has opened up about the extreme weight he lost for his SAS: Rogue Heroes role.

The 28-year-old Sex Education star plays historical army officer David Stirling in the BBC drama which depicts the origins of the British Army Special Air Service.

In season two of the show, Swindells's character is imprisoned and pushed to the brink of sanity - and the actor revealed he put himself through extremes to give a powerful performance.

He told the Daily Mail, "I lost a lot of weight for this series. I knew in reading the scripts I was going to have to and that was a big challenge, as it's something I've not done before."

He continued, "I felt like I had to do that in order to get to this place, I had to try and live as much like David as I could."

He went on, "To feel the hunger of 'I need to get out of here'. I didn't realise how helpful it was going to be to lose weight for a project like this, but it was really helpful."

The new season sees Swindells spending a lot of time filming in a cave while his co-stars filmed scenes across the UK, Italy and Croatia.

The Barbie actor joked, "(There were) a couple of rats I got the great privilege to work with in some scenes... It was a challenge to shoot at times, but ultimately it's been a great joy and an honour."

The second season of SAS Rogue Heroes will air on BBC One from 9pm on Wednesday 1 January 2025.