'Peru Two' drug mule Michaella McCollum to appear on Celebrity SAS reality TV show
The Co. Tyrone native, 32, has even cited her jail time in Peru as an advantage in the show, saying it taught her high levels of resistance.
The seventh season of the celebrity version of the show begins on Britain's Channel 4 this evening at 9pm.
McCollum said ahead of the broadcast that her time in a Peruvian jail had taught her the importance of a resilient mindset (Image: Channel 4)
Speaking ahead of the broadcast, McCollum told the broadcaster: "The level of resilience I learned from being in prison in Peru and knowing how important that mindset is, will definitely help get me through the course, so I'm going to need to use my mental strength to help me along the way.
"In Peru, I was completely stripped back to the rawest version of myself… and I know in this course, it will have a similar effect.
"I will get to see the real me again and I want to challenge myself to see how capable I am.
"I don't know if I'm physically fit enough to complete the course but I have good mental strength." Smuggling
In August 2013, McCollum and Scottish woman Melissa Reid, then both 20, were caught at Lima Airport with 11kg of cocaine worth £1.5m while attempting to board a flight to Spain.
The pair initially claimed they had been kidnapped and were forced to carry the drugs before admitting their part in the attempt to smuggle the cocaine.
Facing 15 years in jail, they were each handed six years and eight months in prison in December 2013 after pleading guilty, with their sentences to be served at the notorious Ancon 2 jail.
McCollum pictured in court in August 2023 (Image: CRIS BOURONCLE / AFP via Getty Images)
McCollum was released in March 2016 and after several months on parole in Peru, returned to Ireland that August.
Reid was released in June that year and was immediately returned to Britain after authorities had agreed to expel her from Peru.
McCollum later released a book about her experience and appeared in a BBC documentary, while she graduated with a business degree from the University of Ulster in 2023. Survival skills
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins will see 14 contestants take part in the most gruelling phase of Special Forces selection in what producers say is the show's hardest course yet.
Other contestants include former Premier League footballer Troy Deeney, singer and actress Hannah Spearritt, media personality Rebecca Loos, singer Lucy Spraggan and choreographer Louis Spence.
Chief Instructor Billy Billingham and his team of Directing Staff (DS) will push the recruits and teach them key survival skills.
McCollum, third from right, with the other contestants (Image: Channel 4)
"The DS don't care how famous the recruits are, how many social media followers they have or what they have done before this," reads a press release from Channel 4.
"As soon as they enter the selection process, their celebrity status and luxuries are stripped away."
Airing across eight one-hour episodes, the series can be streamed or watched live every Sunday and Monday from 9pm on Channel 4, starting tonight.
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The Irish Sun
5 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
How brutal Hells Angel leader led gang in deadly riots, rape & rock gig killing…as ex-wife opens up on savage beating
NO ANGEL How brutal Hells Angel leader led gang in deadly riots, rape & rock gig killing…as ex-wife opens up on savage beating THE roar of Harley-Davidsons and stench of petrol was all it took to announce the Hells Angels were in town. And leading the pack of leather-clad outlaws for decades was hardman Sonny Barger, whose name struck fear into the hearts of even the toughest of bikers. Advertisement 14 Sonny Barger was the longtime leader of the Hells Angels Credit: Getty 14 Barger and his gang ruled the highways of California throughout the 1960s and 70s Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 14 Noel Barger met the Hells Angels leader through her love of bikes Credit: Channel 4 As California became gripped with drug-fuelled mania and political instability, Sonny was the man at the head of a group that left a trail of violence everywhere they went. From leading deadly riots, running drugs, and even threatening Keith Richards with a gun, it's little surprise that Sonny and his crew were dubbed 'vikings on acid'. Many now romanticise him as a legend - but the truth is that he presided over a group that carried out gang rapes of teenagers and that committed twisted acts of cruelty without blinking an eye. And ex-wife Noel Black, who says Barger was an "old school charmer" when they met, soon saw his violent side. Advertisement 'After the first ass kicking, I should have left,' she says. 'He didn't kill me, but I should have just ran.' Now, the life and times of Sonny Barger is told by those who knew him in the documentary Secrets of the Hells Angels, airing tonight on Channel 4. Four months after he was born in 1938, his mother ran off with a bus driver and he was raised by his alcoholic father and sister in the rough port district of Oakland, California. School was attended just to pick fights with his fellow classmates, and at 16 he was expelled for hitting a teacher with a baseball bat. Advertisement Then he tried the army - but after forging his birth certificate so he could join without parental permission, he was given an honourable discharge just 18 months later. Instead he joined a bike club, popular with other ex-military men, named the Oakland Panthers. Bloodsoaked world of UK's Hells Angels as Mafia-style bikers drag bodies of rivals down streets and stash rocket launchers & uzis for war 'I needed a second family,' Sonny wrote in his autobiography about this time. 'I wanted a group less interested in a wife and 2 ½ kids…and more interested in riding, drag-racing, and raising hell.' Advertisement But the Panthers were only weekend riders - and Sonny wanted more. Throughout the 50s, the Hells Angels consisted of loosely organized chapters throughout California, with members often unaware that other chapters existed. Forming his own group, the Oakland Hells Angels, in 1957, he made contact with other Hells Angels groups, and when the overall president was sent to prison in 1958, a 20-year old Sonny took the lead. Brutal beatings By the 1960s and Sonny and his now-worldwide gang of outlaw bikers had developed a serious reputation for violence - for good reason. Advertisement First gaining a criminal record in 1963 for cannabis possession, he was then arrested for assault with a deadly weapon in 1965, when he forced a pistol into a man's mouth after he criticised the Hells Angels. An unrepentant Sonny later wrote: 'Since the motherf*cker was already shot in the head, I bent him over the pool table and shot him again.' 14 Sonny was getting in trouble with the law from the moment he was honourably discharged from the army Credit: supplied 14 The 1969 Altamont Speedway concert is one of the most notorious chapters in Hells Angels history Credit: Everett Advertisement 14 The violence at the concert led many to declare it the end of the Swinging Sixties Credit: Getty Though much of his legal income was made from consulting on Hollywood films about bikers, they also took part in robberies, drug running, and harboured white supremacists. In January 1963, the Oakland Hells Angels headquarters was raided by police, with seven members charged with the alleged gang rape of a 29-year-old woman. During the raid, police also found a swastika flag and a picture of Adolph Hitler with the inscription 'Hitler is alive, our buddy.' Advertisement 'The way we were depicted, we were like Vikings on acid, raping our way across sunny California on motorcycles forged in the furnaces of hell', he wrote. One of the most infamous nights of mayhem happened at a Rolling Stones concert at the Altamont Speedway in 1969. Offered free beer in exchange for providing security, the crowd got restless as the Stones failed to appear on stage. Fights broke out, the bikers beat the crowd with pool cues, and one frightened fan - Meredith Hunter - was knifed to death with the assailant, Alan Passaro, getting away with it on grounds of self-defence. Advertisement '[They] were out of it on bad acid and cheap wine, and they were just looking for trouble,' remembered Keith Richards. 'Somebody knocked their bikes over and the next minute this black kid got scared, pulls a gun, and they did him'. I stood next to him and stuck my pistol into his side and told him to start playing his guitar, or he was dead Sonny To many, it was the day that the peace of love of the 1960s died. Sonny and his bikers for their part blamed the Stones for coming on late Advertisement And not even being a member of one of the biggest bands in the world would keep you safe from Sonny's wrath. 'I stood next to him and stuck my pistol into his side and told him to start playing his guitar, or he was dead', Sonny remembered. 'Altamont may have been some big catastrophe to the hippies, but it was just another Hells Angels event to me.' 14 Sonny had no shame in admitting he'd threatened Keith Richards with a gun Credit: Getty Advertisement 14 Meredith Hunter was stabbed in the neck by a Hells Angels member Misogynistic violence Though the Angels were a lawless rabble, they maintained a strict code of honour within themselves. Disloyalty meant death - as Paul 'German' Ingalls found out in 1968. After being found guilty of stealing Sonny's valuable coin collection by an internal Hells Angels 'court', Ingalls was forced to consume barbiturates until he suffered an overdose. Advertisement Equally brutal were the Hells Angels' sexual crimes, with wives and girlfriends seen as the 'property' of the men. Sonny's first wife, Elsie Mae, had died of an embolism in 1967 after a (then illegal) abortion, and he split with his second wife, Sharon, in 1996. Three years later he married Beth Noel Black, but this came to an end in 2003 after Sonny attacked her so ferociously she found herself hospitalised. 14 Spending 13 years of his life in jail, he was eventually convicted for a number of drug and firearms offences Credit: AP Advertisement 14 Police sometimes made trades with the gang to swap weapons in exchange for releasing jailed members Credit: Getty 14 Noel left after a brutal attack Credit: Channel 4 14 She tells the documentary he was a 'charmer' but had a dark side Credit: Channel 4 'I loved Sonny so much, but marriages sometimes are bad, and sometimes if you hang around tough people things happen to you,' she said. Advertisement 'He would get aggressive with it. After the first ass kicking, I should have left.' During one outburst, Sonny kicked her in the back, causing it to break in three places and leaving her with a lacerated spleen. ...[he] offered to deliver the bagged body of a leftist for every Angel released from jail Ted Hilliard He called 911, and can be heard admitting that he had beaten his wife her so badly she was "paralysed and cannot move". He claimed she had pulled a gun on him, in a row over a mistress, but despite being convicted for aggravated assault he spent only eight days in jail for this crime. Advertisement Justice served Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, Sonny and his Hells Angels had a complicated relationship with the police as they expanded the club into an international organisation. In 1972, Oakland sergeant Ted Hilliard testified that he had accepted guns, dynamite and grenades from Sonny in return for the release of Hells Angels members from prison, as the police wished to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Black Panthers and Marxist groups. Sonny was keen to go further - offering 'to deliver the bagged body of a leftist for every Angel released from jail' - but this was refused. By now, Sonny had developed a serious cocaine addiction and funded this by selling heroin, and Hells Angels chapters around the country practically controlled the entire market for meth. Advertisement When police raided his home in December 1972, they found eight guns throughout his house and even a human skull on his dresser that to this day remains unidentified. He was finally convicted in 1973 for possession of heroin and firearms. 14 An operation to cure throat cancer left Sonny with a hole in his windpipe Credit: Alamy 14 He married his fourth wife Zorana in 2005 Credit: Rex Advertisement Sentenced to ten years, he served only four and a half, running the Hells Angels from his cell and marrying his second wife, Sharon, there. Thanks to his habit of smoking three packs of cigarettes a day, Sonny contracted throat cancer in 1983. This led him to become a public anti-smoking advocate, even saying: "Want to be a rebel? Don't smoke as the rest of the world." Having his vocal cords removed didn't stop him from being convicted in 1988 for conspiring to blow up the clubhouse of rival club the Outlaws, though he insisted he was merely the victim of entrapment by the FBI. Advertisement In total, Sonny spent 13 years in prison throughout his life. By the 2000s, he had stepped away from his public leadership of the gang, though in 2002 he tried to organise a peace conference when warfare between the Hells Angels and Mongols gang exploded. However, this conference was cancelled after a mass riot in Laughlin, Nevada, between bitter rivals left three dead and dozens injured. Hells Angels members swarmed a casino, with CCTV capturing the moment bullets whizzed around slot machines. One Mongol member was stabbed to death and two Hells Angels members died from gunshots. Advertisement He married his fourth wife, Zorana, in 2005, and spent the final portion of his life contributing to books about biker life, as well as appearing on the TV drama Sons of Anarchy. Following a short battle with liver cancer, Sonny passed away in 2022 at the age of 83 - but left a legacy that will be forever part of the story of 20th century America. Secrets of the Hells Angels airs tonight on Channel 4 at 11pm
The Irish Sun
6 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
I played the first-ever Traitors live experience – it was a heart-pounding world of lies and best friend-betrayal
I'VE been in high-stakes situations before - the kind that quicken your pulse and leave your hands trembling. But nothing could ever have prepared me for the chilling dread and simultaneous thrill of stepping into London's very own 'Scottish castle' for the new The Traitors live experience. 8 There is a new Traitors live experience in the UK Credit: Cyann Fielding Little did I know, this was just the start of what was going to be two hours of lies, deception and brilliant gameplay. Alongside 10 other players, I made my way into the belly of the building. The basement's chill sent a shiver down my spine - very apt for the live experience of the iconic TV show. A door was opened and the round table revealed itself - with every detail meticulously recreated. Read more on travel inspo SHOW BOAT I tried new Omaze-style draw for superyacht holidays & lived like a billionaire I definitely didn't feel like I was in London anymore... As the door slammed closed, our host revealed himself - smartly dressed and fully in character. Claudia would have been proud - it was almost as if he were one of her disciples, which I'm guessing felt the same for the other seven rooms full of players in different stages of the experience. We begin with a message from the queen herself, followed by our first time going into complete darkness by popping on blackout goggles. This was the moment most viewers wait for - where the Traitors are selected. Before you enter the experience, you are required to fill out a form where you can express whether or not you are happy to be a Traitor or not. I went on the new Titanic immersive experience Having selected that I didn't mind, as soon as my goggles covered my eyes regret sank in. My palms became clammy, as I jigged my knee - I was now begging silently to not be chosen as suspenseful music echoed around me. The music then rose to a crescendo, increasing the fear as it bubbled through my chest. Then it was over - the Traitors had been chosen, and I had remained a Faithful. Thank goodness. With the experience progressing, players must complete five challenges to earn gold just as they do on the TV show. In between the challenges, there are 'nights' where players put on their goggles again and someone is murdered. There are also round tables, where you get to discuss players and ultimately vote to banish someone. 8 Located in London, the experience allows you to gain the thrill of the TV show in real life Credit: Cyann Fielding "I went to drama school," one player professed early on. That was his first mistake. The second came when he backtracked: "No I didn't go to drama school, I did drama and English at university. I can't act." It was too late - this early proclamation set him in stone for suspicions of many of the other players as a Traitor. The opportunity to get a shield (which protects you from being murdered for one night) in another challenge where you count to a set time blindfolded, caused some eyebrows to be raised at certain players. Clever insights from others seemed too well-thought out under the circumstances for them not to be a Traitor. This was my mistake. 8 Players even sit at a round table and have discussions Credit: The Traitors: Live Experience Accusations of piping up led to others being branded a Traitor and as a result, we failed to banish any real Traitors. With each 'night' brewing more anticipation, it was down to five players remaining including both myself and fellow travel reporter, Alice Penwill. Every second that my goggles were on for felt like an eternity and with each that passed I was chanting in my head 'please don't let it be me'. Then came the heart-plummeting moment: a pinch on the shoulder that sealed my fate. I had been murdered and was immediately escorted out to a second room where I met my previous rivals — the other murdered and banished players. Looking up to the screen, shock rippled through me as I discovered my friend and colleague was the one to murder me. I had been stabbed in the back - literally and figuratively. 8 There are also a number of challenges in the experience to complete Credit: The Traitors: Live Experience Yet the game wasn't fully over for me, nor had it been for the other Faithfuls murdered or banished. In the second room for the deceased and discarded, screens broadcast the game that is continuing at the round table. And challenges for remaining players are also a challenge for those in the second room, as we were given the chance to interfere or help the remaining players win gold. The room, which also felt like it had been dragged out of the Scottish castle itself, was the best of a bad situation. I was out alongside six other players, but that didn't mean we didn't get a full experience or waste our money. Perhaps for the first person murdered, 25 minutes or so of gameplay may feel stingy - especially then when you have to wait in the second room a while before another player joins you. But I suppose that is the name of the game - and you run that risk going in. In total, the experience lasts around two hours. 8 And opportunities to get a gold or earn a shield Credit: The Traitors: Live Experience After the experience, we were escorted to a second bar, with plenty of photo ops and merch to purchase. Here is where the debrief between strangers commences, which was an exciting reliving of what we all experienced moments before - but from a number of different perspectives. How to play like a Traitor - Alice's perspective When I was asked whether I wanted to be a Traitor from the beginning I ticked the box saying 'no' thinking it would be my worst nightmare. But in reality, it was absolutely thrilling. I entered the game as a Faithful, but during the very first roundtable found myself recruited as a Traitor by the chosen Traitor themselves. I had my blindfold goggles on and the host gently squeezed my shoulder. My first thought was 'oh no, I've already been murdered', and when I lifted up my goggles, I read from the interactive screen that I had been recruited to be a Traitor. 8 After the experience ends, you can have some fun with taking pictures Credit: Cyann Fielding Making sure to stay silent, I locked eyes with my fellow Traitor. Then, with a coy smile, I placed my goggles back on knowing the game of lying and deception, something I wouldn't say is my strong suit, had officially started. It's hard to stay on top of the challenges and act like a Faithful - but I had to say picking off fellow players one by one was pretty fun. It's challenging though when time for 'murdering' arrives because the room is completely silent. You're also very close to everyone so making no noise at all is crucial. When it came to kill off players, the Traitors had to take off their goggles and attempt to communicate in silence. This is fine when you agree, but tougher when you don't as there's no opportunity to have a lengthy conversation about who to get rid of. Through nothing but luck, I made it to the final four along with my fellow Traitor and two Faithfuls. And to complete the final challenge, we had to leave the game room and were taken through what felt like a maze of corridors, and down the stairs to a makeshift Traitors turret. 8 In total the experience lasts around two hours Credit: Cyann Fielding It looked very strikingly similar to the real location with a gloomy and castle-like feel. The four of us stood in a little circle around the well, but of course there was no plotting. There were lanterns along the wall, and even Traitors' cloaks hung up on the wall. In our game the Faithfuls were victorious, but I felt like the real winner really. At the end of the game, I asked the original Traitor why she decided to recruit me. What swayed her was that I had looked at her during the roundtable, and she thought she'd been made. So just be warned, people will pay attention to anything you do and say throughout the entire game. The experience costs from £29.50 per person - and is worth every penny. And rumour has it, new games will be added to the experience as it continues its stint in London. The Sun also recently checked out the new Titanic experience, where you experience the iceberg hitting the ship. Plus, the new Squid Game experience feels like being in the TV show but there is a downside for families.
The Irish Sun
11 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Emotional Kerry Katona addresses age-gap relationship with new man & ‘real reason' she signed up for Celebs Go Dating
KERRY Katona emotionally opened up about finding love in her 40s as she addressed her age-gap relationship with her new man. The Sun previously revealed how Kerry, 44, has moved on from her recent split from fiance Ryan Mahoney with hunky personal trainer Paolo Margaglione, 33. 5 Kerry Katona addressed her age-gap relationship with her new man Credit: Matt Monfredi / Channel 4 5 The TV personality signed up to the E4 show for 'money, publicity and therapy' Credit: Nic Serpell-Rand / Channel 4 5 Kerry has moved on with 33-year-old hunky personal trainer Paolo Margaglione Credit: Instagram The former Atomic Kitten star said she signed up to the process for "money, publicity and therapy", before falling head over heels with her new man. The TV favourite said she is no longer "ashamed" to want to be loved after realising she was "lonely" - saying: "I might have been married before but I was 18 when I met my first husband, get over it!" Speaking exclusively to The Sun Kerry said: "I was adamant I was not interested, I just wanted the money, the paycheck, a bit of publicity and therapy. I was adamant I was not interested at all [in dating]." Kerry admitted she was cautious that her dates were only there for fame after they repeatedly used her full name and asked for selfies. "There was a lot of full naming, lots of dates where there were selfies and 'Kerry Katona', it's just not on, I can't be f****** asked," she said. "I just wasn't interested, I was in my 'do it on my own era'. "I think I had more chance with Jon [Lee] than I did with anybody else. "I think when you're on a date and you get called Kerry Katona... let's be honest I've been called worse. "The schedule was hard and full on. Being put on some s*** dates, that was really challenging, some of the dates I got put on, me and you Jon [Lee], I thought I was on the Undateables at one point." The TV favourite said she had her "walls" were high when she first started the process but admitted the agents were able to crack her. Kerry Katona shows off two stone weight loss in low cut minidress "I wasn't interested, I was adamant, my walls were so high, I think you'll see this journey... I'm going to get emotional," she said as she fought back tears during our chat. Opening up about dating younger men on the show, Kerry insisted that age really is just a number - with the star having an 11 year age-gap with her new man Paolo. Kerry joked: "I feel like 21, so who cares! "For me it's energy, it doesn't matter who you are - an age gap is an age gap, as long as you're happy and have that connection. "You could be with same person for the next 10 years and be miserable as anything, it doesn't matter." But with the agents advice, Kerry revealed there was a turning point for her during the process. She hit back at the stigma of women wanting to find love in their 40s and said she deserves her happily ever after. "I thought I was happy on my own and they made me realise that I was actually really lonely," an emotional Kerry told us. "I'm a very loving person and I think being in this industry and 'oh here we go again', I'm 44 does that mean I have to be on my own for the rest of my life, I want to share my life with somebody, I have a lot of love to give. "I want to come home to somebody for a kiss and a cuddle. "I might have been married before but I was 18 when I met my first husband, get over it. "Everyone has seen these lovely relationships, but mines been documented, it doesn't always work out but god loves a trier. "It's okay to not be ashamed to want to be in love and to be with somebody. "I was actually more bothered about what the public perception would think of me, but I want to share my life with somebody, I want to be with somebody." She added: "When you go into something like this, you really have to surrender yourself, you walk in for the deep chats and you think 'you've got this, you'll be fine', but they're so good at what they do, that you really end up thinking 'I didn't realise that about myself' and it's quite scary and it's quite surprising." It comes after The Sun revealed that Kerry has found love again after meeting her new boyfriend on the show. A source said: 'Kerry has bagged herself another toyboy - Paolo is 33 and Kerry is 44, but neither of them are bothered by the age-gap. "Kerry looks better than most women half her age at the moment, and is young at heart. "Paolo thinks she's super sexy and has told all his mates that he is the lucky one. "Meanwhile Kerry loves the fact that she has a younger man again." The source added: "Paolo's got an amazing body but he's also a sweet guy to boot. "He's a single dad to two girls, so he has his head screwed on and is responsible.' Former Atomic Kitten star Kerry signed up to the E4 show in February following her painful break-up with fiancé Ryan Mahoney. Kerry announced their split in November 2024 and told fans there had been "a breach of trust". The couple had been engaged for four years and Kerry had even said that he had "been like a dad" to her five kids - Molly, 21, Lilly-Sue, 20, Heidi, 16, Max, 14, and eight-year-old DJ." Sources said Kerry had hoped to "find a new connection" on Celebs Go Dating - and she has done just that. Last month, she was snapped having a cheeky snog with Paolo outside a hotel. In their first public outing together, they looked very happy as they hugged and kissed each other in the street. A source previously told us: "Kerry was heartbroken when she split from Ryan – it's taken her quite a while to get over what happened. "But she was approached to do the show and is always up for a new opportunity. "Bosses know she makes amazing telly and she's really hoping she finds a proper connection." Celebs Go Dating 2025 cast S Club 7 singer Jon Lee The Chase quizzer Mark Labbett Too Hot To Handle hunk Louis Russell Love Island All Stars contestant, Olivia Hawkins Singer Kerry Katona Made in Chelsea heartthrob Sam Prince QUIT - Christine McGuinness 5 Kerry said there was a big turning point in her Celebs Go Dating journey Credit: Matt Monfredi / Channel 4
