A FORMER contestant on TV dating show Take Me Out is one of seven women in seven years to earn the Commandos’ coveted Green Beret.
Lily-Mae Fisher passed the grueling All Arms Command course that culminated in a 30-mile speed march with weapons and equipment on Dartmoor.
The Royal Navy said pilot appearing on the popular ITV1 dating showpresented by Paddy McGuinnessten years ago was “one of the most surreal five days of my life.”
Lily-Mae added: “From filming in the UK to going to the ‘Isle of Fernando’ [Tenerife]and then returned to college as if nothing had happened.
“Something I will remember forever and what a fun few days it was!”
The 13-week All Arms Commando course is open to soldiers, sailors and RAF members who work with the Royal Navy.
When they pass, they may wear a green beret and command flashes.
But there are still no women in the Royal Marines – Britain’s elite naval infantry.
In a freedom of information request, the Department of Defense said only about 20 women had joined the pre-training fitness programs since the combat roles opened in 2018.
And “fewer than ten” went on to the first stage of basic training in Lympstone, Devon.
A source said: “The Ministry of Defense would do anything for a woman to pass the main 32-week course. But the regiment does not want to give women special treatment.”
The Royal Navy said: “All branches of the Marines are open to all regardless of gender.”
Last year the regiment received 1,640 expressions of interest from women to join.
Norman hero dies
By Ed Southgate
ONE of the youngest D-Day commandos – who stormed Normandy at the age of 18 – has died aged 98.
Norman Rose crawled virtually twelve miles to reach a port with 4,000 Nazis in 1944, explaining, “If you got up, you were dead.”
He became a nuclear physicist.
Norman, who was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 2016, was buried in Brecon yesterday.