Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins star Ben Cohen held back tears as he recalled his father’s tragic death following a violent nightclub assault.
On Monday night’s episode the former rugby player, 47, discussed the awful incident which happened to his father Peter in 2000.
Peter Cohen, the brother of 1966 World Cup winner George, died from a blood clot a month after he was beaten up. His three attackers were jailed for violent disorder.
Ben recalled: ‘My dad got beaten to death protecting someone. It was f***ing horrible. It was savage.’
Ben went on to say: ‘It was in Northampton at a nightclub that my brother and my dad had but it wasn’t even open.
‘It was these guys who had beef with somebody else.
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins star Ben Cohen held back tears as he recalled his father’s tragic death following a violent nightclub assault
On Monday night’s episode the former rugby player, 47, discussed the awful incident which happened to his father Peter in 2000
‘My dad was a really tough man to be fair. But he got a severe beating here and that’s what gave him an aneurism.
‘You don’t know how to handle it at that age, You don’t. It’s kind of what I’m trying to process now. Really tough.’
In a piece to camera he later said: ‘What happened to my dad really leaves a hole in your life.
‘Been on my own since 21. So I haven’t really got many people that I could probably turn to and ask for advice.’
It comes after Ben emotionally revealed his daughter Isabelle, 17, will have to undergo surgery to have a pacemaker fitted after being diagnosed with a heart condition.
On the show Ben described the past 18 months as ‘horrendous’ following his on-off relationship with Kristina Rihanoff and financial troubles.
Ben admitted he is trying to be a ‘pillar of strength’ for his daughters. The athlete is father to twins Isabelle and Harriet from his 13-year marriage to Abby Cohen and Milena, nine, with Kristina.
During tense interrogation scenes, the rugby star spoke out about what has been going on with his life.
Ben recalled on the show: ‘My dad got beaten to death protecting someone.It was f***ing horrible. It was savage’
Ben went on to say: ‘It was in Northampton at a nightclub that my brother and my dad had but it wasn’t even open. It was these guys who had beef with somebody else’
‘It’s been horrendous. Izzy is having a pacemaker fitted and it’s a lot to process,’ he said.
‘How do you deal with it? You be strong for your daughter, you have to be that pillar of strength. That’s when the self-neglect comes in because you prioritise other things before yourself.’
A pacemaker is a small, implanted electronic device that regulates your heartbeat by sending electrical impulses to your heart, preventing it from beating too slowly or irregularly, and improving quality of life for people with abnormal heart rhythms.
Ben’s stint in Channel 4’s Celebrity SAS comes after it was reported he had rekindled his relationship with Kristina.
A source told The Sun recently: ‘They’ve decided to give things another go. They looked very much in love.’
They were said to have poured everything they had into a yoga studio and fitness business and were severely impacted by Covid.
The extent of the couple’s struggles were laid bare in unusual circumstances – during a court appearance in 2024 when professional dancer Kristina was caught driving without insurance.
Giving evidence during the case, England World Cup winning rugby star Ben admitted he had bungled the handling of their car insurance policy and told how he was ‘fighting to save his relationship and home’.
A friend of the couple told the Daily Mail in March: ‘The past six months have been hell for them and it has torn the love they had apart. For the sake of their family, they have chosen to go forward as separate individuals.
‘Those close to them who know them as a couple had hoped they would be able to work things out but for now it’s over and it looks like there’s no going back.’
The couple were left with crippling debts after they ploughed every penny they had into a yoga studio which plunged into crisis during the Covid pandemic.
In a tortuously frank admission Ben told the court: ‘I get up every day and I fight not to lose everything – to lose my cars and my house and my relationship. I’m so overdrawn.’
On the show Ben described the past 18 months as ‘horrendous’ following his on-off relationship with Kristina Rihanoff and financial troubles
When questioned about the strains on his and Rihanoff’s relationship, he said: ‘We’re still living together. We’re in it financially.’
He added: ‘We’re in business together so the problem is that we opened the business before Covid and we got the worst severities of it and in all honestly this is just another problem for me to deal with.
‘I’ve got credit cards that are overdrawn.
‘I’m overdrawn in both accounts. We have got a business debt because of Covid. It’s just another problem.’
