Michaella McCollum, one of two women arrested in Peru for attempting to smuggle cocaine across borders, has said she’s found taking part in Channel 4’s SAS Who Dares Wins programme “difficult”.
The 31-year-old was arrested in 2013, along with Melissa Reid, after the pair tried to smuggle £1.5 million worth of cocaine on a flight from Spain to Peru. The pair were sentenced to six years in the Ancon 2 prison but were released on parole in 2016.
In a move that has faced some criticism from Channel 4 viewers, McCollum will now star in the forthcoming celebrity edition of SAS Who Dares Wins, alongside famous faces including Love Island’s Chloe Burrows, former model Rebecca Loos and X-Factor singer Lucy Spraggan.
Speaking to Dermot O’Leary and Olivia Attwood on This Morning, McCollum said that despite surviving years in a Peruvian prison, the interrogation segment of the programme had been hard for her to take.
“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.”
McCollum added that the interrogation at the hands of the show’s instructors was “extremely hostile” but maintained it was the only reality series she’d considered doing despite years of offers from other shows.
The 31-year-old said of her motivation to feature on the programme: “I did that show for myself…not to make people like me,” adding she’s aware some public scrutiny of her is “always going to exist”.
Many This Morning viewers took to X/Twitter to say they didn’t consider McCollum a celebrity and she therefore shouldn’t be taking part in an A-list edition of the gruelling special forces show.
“What message does it send to young people? Shocking,” one person wrote.
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins presenter Jason Fox appeared alongside McCollum on the ITV breakfast programme and maintained that “reformed” prisoners should be allowed to take part.
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Further stars who’ll compete alongside McCollum include boxer Conor Benn, Love Island contestant Tasha Ghouri, TV personality Louie Spence, and S Club 7 singer Hannah Spearritt.
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins returns to Channel 4 on Sunday, 3 August.
