Asyia Iftikhar
Published November 27, 2025 3:32pm
Updated November 27, 2025 3:42pm
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Ant Middleton arrived at the court on Thursday for a preliminary hearing after being sued by the Ministry of Defence (Picture: Ben Whitley/PA Wire)
SAS: Who Dares Wins star Ant Middleton has been made the subject of an injunction by a judge for allegedly discussing sensitive military information on a podcast.
The former Army man attended a preliminary court hearing on Thursday at the Royal Courts of Justice after being sued by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for an alleged breach of his Special Forces confidentiality contract.
The 45-year-old is claimed to have shared the ‘extremely sensitive’ information on a podcast known as Mike Drop hosted by Navy SEAL Mike Ritland on July 2, in an episode titled Exposing The Quiet Split Between UK And US Forces.
The MoD has accused him of revealing ‘damaging’ disclosures which included discussion on ‘weapons, international partners, intelligence matters’
MoD barrister Oliver Sanders KC claims the podcast featured military matters, which the MOD ‘neither confirms nor denies’ the truth of.
He added that the MoD was taking legal action to ‘reassure partners that our personnel are not going to leave and spill the beans’.
The SAS: Who Dares Wins personality is former special forces (Picture: Ben Whitley/PA Wire)
Sanders continued: ‘He must know he has breached the contract. Secrecy is essential to the operational effectiveness of UK Special Forces and their ability to discharge the national security functions they have.
‘They need to have the trust and confidence of those who may cooperate with them.
‘The knowledge within UK Special Forces that everyone has signed the contract is important to morale and to trust in one’s comrades.’
During the hearing, the High Court judge, Mr Justice Garnham, made a temporary injunction pending the full trial of the legal claim, which banned him from repeating these matters without gaining written permission beforehand.
Justice Garnham also warned there was potential for ‘very significant harm’ to the Special Forces if he revealed any military secrets.
The injunction comes after Middleton, who joined the military from 2008 to 2011, denied he spilt any military secrets.
He called the legal action ‘sudden, severe and disproportionate’.
He continued: ‘I have never placed my country nor my fellow comrades at risk. I believe the suggestion I have revealed military secrets is shocking and unfounded.
He served in the army from 2008 to 2011 (Picture: Getty)
The father-of-five said: ‘Despite multiple attempts by myself and my legal team to engage in constructive dialogue with the MoD, we have been met with what we feel is an unreasonable and aggressive approach.
‘We have wanted to mediate at every single corner. We remain unclear exactly on what specific allegations we are expected to defend.’
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He added: ‘Without knowing the exact content in question, it is impossible to form an appropriate defence or even take corrective action.’
The temporary injunction will run until a full trial of the legal claim, which is scheduled for March 3 2026, with the MoD seeking a permanent injunction forcing Mr Middleton to adhere to the terms of the agreement.
The TV personality is best known for when he hosted the Channel 4 reality series SAS: Who Dares Wins, which put civilians through a modified form of military training from 2015 to 2021.
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He was dropped over ‘personal conduct’ following controversial social media comments about Covid-19 and Black Lives Matter.
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