Aussies are outraged that convicted drug smuggler ‘Cocaine Cassie’ Sainsbury has been cast on the new season of Channel Seven reality show SAS Australia.
In April 2017, Sainsbury, 28, was caught trying to smuggle 5.8kg of cocaine out of Columbia concealed in headphones. She later spent 27 months in prison.
The Adelaide native returned to Australia last September for the first time in five years, and now she is set to launch 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 should not be putting someone convicted of a crime up on a pedestal calling them a celebrity,’ one Twitter user wrote.
Aussies are outraged that convicted drug smuggler ‘Cocaine Cassie’ Sainsbury (pictured) has been cast on the new season of Channel Seven reality show SAS Australia
In April 2017, Sainsbury, 28, was caught trying to smuggle 5.8kg of cocaine out of Columbia concealed in headphones (pictured upon her arrest). She later spent 27 months in prison
Another viewer said: ‘SAS Australia: Cocaine Cassie is one of 14 new contestants… surely Seven can do better than making a cocaine convict a celeb in a TV show?’
A third commented: ‘Cocaine Cassie also going on that SAS show, so you can see the producers love playing in the gutter.’
The convicted drug smuggler will star alongside controversial actor Craig McLachlan and boxing champion Anthony Mundine.
She’ll 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 medallist Jason Akermanis.
For the first time on SAS Australia, these men and women will 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 will star alongside controversial actor Craig McLachlan and boxing champion Anthony Mundine. She’ll 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 medallist Jason Akermanis (the whole cast list is seen here)
They will eat, sleep and train together in punishingly hot and arid conditions, with no allowances or exceptions made for their celebrity status or gender.
The celebrities will be pushed beyond their limits like never before, as they’re subjected to extreme physical endurance, sleep deprivation, interrogation and psychological testing in unforgiving, dramatic terrain.
Some will reach breaking point and withdraw, the show’s press release promises.
Sainsbury returned to Australia for the first time in five years last September with her wife Tatiana, 34, by her side, and she is set to live between Australia and Colombia.
She had been forced to stay in Colombia as part of her bail conditions, but once she’d completed her sentence she was allowed to come home.
Although she is keen to get back to her tiny hometown of Yorketown, 90km from Adelaide, the former inmate previously told Daily Mail Australia that married life would probably involve living between two countries.
Sainsbury returned to Australia for the first time in five years last September with her wife Tatiana, 34, by her side, and she is set to live between Australia and Colombia
‘[Tatiana has] never been to Australia,’ Sainsbury said.
‘We’ll probably end up between Australia and Colombia because obviously her family is here [in Colombia] so it’ll be like, some time here, some time there type of thing.’
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 with Tatiana getting down on one knee during a romantic beachfront dinner at Cartagena, Colombia.
At the time Sainsbury showed off her glitzy engagement ring on social media and posted about being flustered over trying to choose a wedding dress.
‘I feel like I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. It’s nice to feel like I can be myself with no judgement 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’d completed 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 into personal training.
Her life spiralled dramatically in 2017 when she was caught attempting to smuggle cocaine inside 18 boxes of headphones.
After her release, she tearfully revealed how her life had hit one low point after another.
