Aussies are outraged that convicted drug smuggler ‘Cocaine Cassie’ Sainsbury has been cast in the new season of Channel Seven reality show SAS Australia.
In April 2017, 28-year-old Sainsbury was caught trying to smuggle 5.8 kg of cocaine from Columbia hidden in headphones. She later spent 27 months in prison.
The Adelaide native returned to Australia for the first time in five years last September and is now poised to embark on a television career.
Members of the public have expressed their disgust at Seven for choosing her for the military-inspired show, as the only reason she is famous is because of her crime.
‘This is ridiculous. We shouldn’t put someone convicted of a crime on a pedestal and call them a celebrity,” one Twitter user wrote.
Aussies are outraged that convicted drug smuggler ‘Cocaine Cassie’ Sainsbury (pictured) has been cast in the new season of Channel Seven reality show SAS Australia
In April 2017, 28-year-old Sainsbury was caught trying to smuggle 5.8kg of cocaine out of Columbia hidden in headphones (pictured at her arrest). She later spent 27 months in prison
Another viewer commented, “SAS Australia: Cocaine Cassie is one of 14 new entrants… Surely Seven can do better than have a celebrity convicted of cocaine on a TV show?”
A third commented, “Cocaine Cassie goes on that SAS show too, so you can tell the producers like to play in the gutter.”
The convicted drug smuggler stars alongside controversial actor Craig McLachlan and boxing champion Anthony Mundine.
She will also compete against Olympians Stephanie Rice, Peter Bol and Matthew Mitcham, as well as Balinese princess Lindy Klim, Thai cave rescue hero Dr. Craig Challen and Brownlow Medalist Jason Akermanis.
For the first time on SAS Australia, these men and women travel offshore to a secret base in the Middle East.
Members of the public have expressed their disgust at Seven for choosing her for the military-inspired show, as the only reason she is famous is because of her crime.
The convicted drug smuggler stars alongside controversial actor Craig McLachlan and boxing champion Anthony Mundine. She will also compete against Olympians Stephanie Rice, Peter Bol and Matthew Mitcham, as well as Balinese princess Lindy Klim, Thai cave rescue hero Dr Craig Challen and Brownlow Medalist Jason Akermanis (full cast list can be seen here)
They will eat, sleep, and train together in punishingly hot and dry conditions, with no regard or exception for their celebrity status or gender.
The celebrities will be pushed to their limits like never before, as they are subjected to extreme physical endurance, sleep deprivation, interrogation and psychological tests in brutal, dramatic terrain.
Some will reach breaking point and pull out, the show’s press release promises.
Sainsbury returned to Australia for the first time in five years last September with wife Tatiana, 34, by her side, and she will live between Australia and Colombia.
She was forced to stay in Colombia as part of her bail conditions, but once she had served her sentence, she was allowed to come home.
Although she would like to return to her small hometown of Yorketown, 90 km from Adelaide, the former prisoner previously told Daily Mail Australia that married life will likely mean living between two countries.
Sainsbury returned to Australia for the first time in five years last September with wife Tatiana, 34, by her side, and she will be living between Australia and Colombia
‘[Tatiana has] never been to Australia,” said Sainsbury.
“We’ll probably end up between Australia and Colombia, because obviously her family is here [in Colombia] so it will be, a while here, a while there.’
Sainsbury said her whirlwind romance with Tatiana, which began in 2021, was completely unexpected.
“We had shared a group of friends and one night we went out for a birthday and we literally hit it off,” she said.
The pair quickly took their relationship to the next level when Tatiana got down on one knee during a romantic beachside dinner in Cartagena, Colombia.
At the time, Sainsbury showed off her glitzy engagement ring on social media and posted that she was nervous about choosing a wedding dress.
“I feel like I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. It’s nice to feel like I can be myself without judgment from someone who is always there for me,” she said.
She was forced to stay in Colombia as part of her bail conditions, but once she served her sentence she was allowed to come home. (Pictured: Sainsbury with wife Tatiana)
Sainsbury said her whirlwind romance with Tatiana (right) was completely unexpected
Before her arrest, Sainsbury was a barmaid and later went to personal training.
Her life took a dramatic turn in 2017 when she was caught attempting to smuggle cocaine in 18 boxes of headphones.
After her release, she tearfully revealed how her life had reached one low point after another.
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