SAS Australia’s Ant Middleton reveals the bizarre reason why he can no longer go to the pub

He’s one of the toughest guys on TV, but Ant Middleton has admitted he finds it hard to go to the pub.

In an interview with Triple M’s Moonman In The Morning on Monday, the 40-year-old SAS Australia instructor was asked if ‘guys have a go at you’ at the pub.

Ant admitted it was something that happened all too often, and said he was regularly confronted by drunk men.  

‘Yeah, there’s the old classic. You’re there for a couple of hours, the beers start flowing…’ he explained. 

‘You know, you go to walk to the toilet, and there’s “Ayyy! You’ve got to get past me! You know, SAS!” And I’m like, “Don’t make me, mate.”‘ 

He added jokingly: ‘Jab him in the throat so he can’t talk, and then I’ll kick him in the face, and then I’ll have the Old Bill (police) knocking at the door the next morning. But we won’t go into that.’

Ant – who appears on SAS Australia as the show’s chief instructor – previously served a four-month prison stint after assaulting two police officers outside a nightclub.  

In 2013, he was involved in a physical altercation with officers PC Katherine Alison and PC Christopher Brooksbank outside an Essex nightclub.

He was sentenced to 14 months in prison for the attack, of which he served four months due to good behaviour. 

The former SAS soldier was convicted of unlawfully wounding Brooksbank and common assault upon Alison. 

A remorseful Ant later told The Sun that the incident was sparked when a row broke out between his friends and another group of men.

‘It was alcohol-fuelled. Once I realised what I’d done, I thought, “Oh my God,”‘ he recounted. 

‘It really hit home. That night was a turning point in my life, but did not ruin my life. It was a clash of authority. I just lost my temper.

‘A little conflict happened, which turned physical. I’ve regretted it ever since. It’s one of the biggest regrets I’ve had in my life.’

While behind bars, he worked three jobs: as a floor mopper, gym orderly and teaching English to illiterate prisoners.