'It was a rocky time; no sleep, no food': Peter Stringer and others on Ultimate Hell Week
Melanie Nocher, Valerie Mulcahy and Peter Stringer are among the participants in Ultimate Hell Week The Professionals, on RTÉ.
Hell Week is back on RTÉ this week, but rather than leaving a group of civilians in the hands of the fearsome Army Rangers, this year’s 18 recruits included Olympians, actors, and international athletes, all vying to raise money for their chosen charity.
According to those who took part, Ultimate Hell Week The Professionals lived up to the name.
"The whole process was really nerve-wracking. The actual week is all a blur. The guys just kept coming after you from the first minute," says former Irish rugby star Peter Stringer. "It was a rocky time; no sleep, no food. I don't know how I even did it. But I said to myself if I did Dancing With The Stars, I would never live it down if I turned this down."
The 43-year-old had watched previous seasons of the show so was able to ramp up his fitness regime to get ready for the week, but says that nothing could have prepared him for the mental challenges the Special Forces course threw at him.
"I went in knowing there was a 90% fail rate and the people in the first few seasons were incredibly fit and in great condition. They obviously trained a lot for it but so many failed at different stages. I already had my schedule - I do my weight sessions, running, swimming, rowing - but when I found out about the show I had to tweak things.
“You can train physically but honestly, it's the mental side of things that gets you. I found one of the most difficult things to be the schedule. You were up, had to get your bag organised, your bed folded up, sleeping bag rolled up, have your breakfast eaten, all in the space of 15 minutes while someone was screaming in your face.
“To get that side of things in order on the back of no sleep and no food, I found that very tough. And there was no preparing for that, I wasn’t going to have my wife getting up to yell at me at 3am in the weeks leading up,” Stringer says, laughing.
“You just never know what area you're going to let yourself down in. It really was an attack on all the senses."
With 98 international rugby caps for Ireland, did the Cork native think he was at an advantage to some of the other recruits going in?
"People were saying it was going to be easy for me but I'm out of playing professional rugby for three and a half years. I'm quite strict in my regime but you don't know what's going to get somebody," he says.
"You could have the strongest and biggest guy in there who could be claustrophobic. You never know until there's a hood put over your head. It was tough for everyone in there regardless of their background."
In the end, the father of two is “delighted” he took part in the series in aid of CUH’s Children’s Unit - morning routine and all. "I would have had serious regrets if I had turned this down and I'm someone who really lives with regret if I don't take on a challenge. As hard as it was, you get over the pain because that feeling of regret will last a lot longer."
Ten-time GAA All Ireland title holder Valerie Mulcahy didn’t feel as prepared heading into the course. "I probably didn't know what I was getting myself into," the former Cork football star says, laughing.
"They were basically trying to break us and find our weaknesses. Every moment was a challenge, you always had to be on high alert. It was emotionally, psychically, and psychologically gruelling.
"It was amazing though and you learn so much from it. I really appreciated the great crew that was in there with me as well. Like in sport, only you and the group know what you've actually gone through. We have massive respect and trust for each other."
Though the Rockbán native has retired from inter-county football, she is still playing at club level and as a PE teacher, says she had a “good baseline fitness” going into the show. Her chosen charity was LGBTQ Ireland.
"I do gym work and pitch sessions and mobility work but nothing could have gotten you ready for putting yourself through what we went through. I think we all came out of it very proud of ourselves,” she says.
"It was like nothing I've ever experienced. It was really once in a lifetime - and once is enough.”
Two time Olympic swimmer Melanie Nocher feels similarly. "It's called Hell Week for a reason," says the Co Down native. "But I got a lot out of it. It breaks you down but it builds you back up again. It was a really good experience for me. It put to bed a lot of demons I had from London 2012."
While the 33-year-old says that the course was "horrendous," it was made easier by her fellow recruits, who are all still in contact with each other.
"We got ourselves through a lot of really tough situations. You're thrown into this unreal world and if you don't bond, then none of you are going to succeed," she says. "I feel like I have this group of friends now where we can talk about something we've all gone through together. You can talk about it to friends and partners but they don't really know because they weren't there."
While Nocher is still involved with Swim Ireland, the mum of two had to incorporate new elements of training into her already busy routine in preparation for the show. Her chosen charity was the Irish Cancer Society.
"As a mum and an ex-athlete, I put a lot of pressure on myself to stay in shape but I've got a three-year-old and a one-year-old, so I'm limited in what I can train for. I couldn't go away to a mountain range for a weekend. I had to train at night a lot," she says.
"I would go out walking with a backpack on after the kids went to bed. We were also redoing our garden and had 20 tonnes of rocks delivered so I moved those around and then the girls are 30kg between them so I used to walk with one of them on my back or bench press them. It was really fun to get them involved."
Nocher says that getting back into a regime really helped through last year’s lockdowns. "It was a real kick up the arse. I really needed it. My youngest was one year old when I got the call and I was really struggling to have the motivation to go for a run or take the time to swim.
“I’m very determined though and when I got the call I knew what I needed to do. I’m a qualified personal trainer so I made myself a plan and watched as I ticked it off every week. It was a great feeling. It was a real rainbow in a dark place for me and I met a really lovely bunch. I’m glad I got stuck in hell with them.”
- Ultimate Hell Week - The Professionals begins on RTÉ One, on Wednesday, September 8
