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Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Win is back on our screens — after a summer of watching reality stars lounge around in bikinis falling for "no good' men (yes, Love Island, I'm looking at you), the hardcore show is something of a welcome relief.
The shows sees celebrities from all walks of celebrity life (sports stars, musicians, reality stars, public personalities) taking on physical and mental challenges usually reserved for those going through the SAS selection process. It's a lot of running, jumping, swimming, sweating, swearing and so on.
Amongst this year's line-up is Michaella McCollum. When the first episode aired last night, some viewers were quick to note that McCollum was seemingly out of place because of her particular claim to fame.
“Since when is a convicted drug smuggler considered to be a celebrity? Michaella McCollum does not fulfil the basic requirement to be a contestant on #SASWhoDaresWins,” one viewer wrote on X.
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Another wrote, “Michaella McCollum isn't a celebrity, she's a criminal.” But who actually is Celebrity SAS's Michaella McCollum?
Get to know the newest recruits of the Channel 4 show.
Who is Celebrity SAS's Michaella McCollum?
Michaella McCollum was convicted of drug smuggling back in 2013. She and Melissa Reid were stopped at Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru and were found to be smuggling £1.5 million worth of cocaine in their luggage.
The pair claimed that they had been forced to smuggle the drugs by a gang. They pleaded guilty to the crime and were sentenced to almost seven years in a Peruvian prison. McCollum and Reid only served three years and were released in 2016. They were known by the media as the “Peru Two.”
McCollum was 19 at the time of her conviction. “I was partying a lot… I just thought I was having fun, I trusted these people. It just kind of snowballed, and I would find myself in a situation I couldn't come back out of,” she reflected during a recent appearance on ITV's This Morning.
As for her time in prison in Peru, McCollum shared: “I mean it's obviously extreme, but I feel like I was incredibly adaptable, like I just kind of got along with it… But I feel like it made me an amazing person.”
Why did Michaella McCollum join the cast of Celebrity SAS?
In the same interview, McCollum opened up about her decision-making process before entering the show. As she explained, she had previously received other offers for other reality shows, but this was the one she wanted to do. “SAS, there's no other show like that, so I thought it would be a really good way to test myself and try and push myself and do something completely different,” she said.
Joining the show wasn't about the public perception, she added. "At the end of the day, I did that show for myself…not to make people like me," she said. “They'll see with time.”
She also spoke about the interrogation she went through on the show. "I didn’t like it. It was super long. I just thought, ‘one more hour,’” she said. “Mentally, I know it’s not real, even though it feels very real…it’s quite difficult, but that helped me to ease into the process.”
Watch the trailer now.
