The newest batch of recruits taking on the jungle phase of selection on SAS: Who Dares Wins has been announced and a social media influencer from south-east London is braving the challenge.

The 20 new recruits will be tested to their limits in Thung Ui, North Vietnam by ex-special forces operatives in the upcoming series of the Channel 4 endurance programme, which launches on January 23.

26-year-old Aliyah Maria Bee, from south east London, will be one of those facing the extremes.

She was born in South Africa and moved to the UK when she was just a baby – she has recently moved to Dubai according to her YouTube Channel.

Aliyah “fell into” vlogging and now has 175,000 subscribers on YouTube – and has not looked back since.

She recently suffered a miscarriage six months into her pregnancy and documented her journey on social media.

The south east Londoner got pregnant again but sadly miscarried a second time, at exactly the same stage. She now wants to raise awareness around the topic and said she hopes the course “will heal me in the most twisted of ways, and I want to get my spark back”.

A friend told Aliyah to audition because it was something she thought it would be something she would be good at.

Aliyah added: “I didn’t really have much expectation because I didn’t know what I was signing up for, but I definitely had a life-changing experience.

“It was scary, it was challenging and it changed me as a person, I feel like I can do anything.”

She described the experience as “life changing” and that “no one will understands unless they walk in your shoes - I went through every emotion but I’m here and I’m glad I did it.”

Aliyah said that she learnt that: “I’m a fighter and I can literally get through anything”.

This series, Mark “Billy” Billingham will lead as chief of the directing staff as he is an expert in jungle warfare having spent half his military career serving in this terrain.

He will be joined by new DS member Chris Oliver and former members Jason “Foxy” Fox and Rudy Reyes from the US.

Another recruit, footballer and model Jamie Clarke, has said he hopes to raise awareness about the challenges deaf people face on a daily basis while competing on SAS: Who Dares Wins.

The 32-year-old from Bretforton, Worcestershire, who is the captain of England and Great Britain’s deaf football teams, was born profoundly deaf and prefers not to wear a cochlear implant as he enjoys the peacefulness of silence.

Reflecting on why he decided to sign up for the show, he said: “What I was hoping to get out of this experience was to hopefully raise awareness of deaf people and how we communicate and struggle on a daily basis.”

Clarke, who is the show’s first profoundly deaf contestant, added that he also wanted to test himself, explaining: “I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and face these difficult challenges.

“Prove to myself and others that being completely deaf doesn’t mean that I am any different to anyone else and I am able to compete just as well as anyone else.”

SAS: Who Dares Wins – Jungle Hell launches on Channel 4 on Monday January 23 at 9pm.