Michaella McCollum, a reformed drug mule, has said her reason for joining Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins was to “push” her own limits—not to influence how the public sees her, reports Breaking News.
McCollum, originally from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, was arrested in 2013 for attempting to smuggle 24lb (11kg) of cocaine worth €2 million out of Peru alongside her accomplice Melissa Reid.
Dubbed the “Peru Two,” the duo received prison sentences of six years and eight months after pleading guilty, but were released in 2016 following an agreement with Peruvian officials, reports Breaking News.
Speaking on ITV’s This Morning, McCollum said: “Reality type TV series, I’ve never really been interested in doing anything like that, but I think 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. So it was the one show I was like, you know what? I feel like I’ve been pushed to my limit through other experiences. Why not try this? Never in my life am I gonna face these type of challenges,” reports Breaking News.
The Channel 4 spin-off reality series features 14 celebrities as they undergo intense special forces-style training in hopes of completing the SAS selection process.
McCollum commented: “I did that show for me. I wanted to improve myself and push myself. It wasn’t, ‘I’m doing this because I want people to like me,'” reports Breaking News.
When asked whether she feared public criticism, she responded: “Not really, because I know that’s always going to exist.
“And any kind of decisions and things I make, there’s always that kind of scrutiny. So I thought, whether I do the show, there’ll always be some kind of talk about that,” reports Breaking News.
Reflecting on her time behind bars, she said: “It’s obviously extreme, but I feel like I was incredibly adaptable, like I just kind of got along with it.
“And I think for the first part, I felt so guilty and bad. I kind of just thought: ‘OK, I deserve it. I’ll just suck it up. I’ll just get along with it.’ But I feel like it made me an amazing person. I came back when I was 23,” reports Breaking News.
Other celebrities featured in the show include professional boxer Conor Benn, former S Club singer Hannah Spearritt, and Love Island star Tasha Ghouri, the first deaf contestant on the programme, reports Breaking News.
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