MCHAELLA McCOLLUM, one half of the infamous Peru Two drug smugglers, is set to appear on reality TV show Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.
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.