Michaella McCollum - Recruit Number 3
Category: Press Pack ArticleMichaella McCollum rose to international notoriety as one half of the infamous Peru Two, after being arrested and imprisoned in Peru for attempting to smuggle £1.5 million worth of cocaine in 2013. Her story captured global attention as she faced an eight-year sentence, which was eventually reduced to six years and eight months. Michaella spent over two years in multiple Peruvian prisons, enduring horrendous living conditions, physical violence, and while battling the legal system and learning to survive in an environment that was as hostile as it was brutal.
Following her release in 2015, Michaella sought to rebuild her life in Northern Ireland, earning a degree in International Business Management from Ulster University in 2023. She also found a new passion for fitness, using it as a tool to reclaim control over her life. In 2021, Michaella published her memoir You’ll Never See Daylight Again, recounting her harrowing journey.
Michaella’s resilience has seen her transition into a career as a public speaker. She regularly delivers motivational talks about personal transformation, overcoming adversity, and the dangers of coercion. Her experiences, both in prison and in navigating the challenges that followed, have made her a sought-after speaker for law enforcement and community groups.
Now a mother of twin boys, Michaella is determined to lead by example and teach her children that no mistake defines you, and that the path to redemption and personal growth can be a long and challenging one, but it is possible.
Why did you decide to take on Celebrity SAS Who Dares Wins?
I was hesitant at the start. And then I thought, you know what, when in life are you going to be faced with those types of challenges? You're not! I was at the point in my life where I was just stuck in my comfort zone, and I thought this is a good way to break those barriers and do the things that scare me, and maybe that will help me in the future with decisions and just different things in life. I need to be okay with taking risks and stepping outside of my comfort zone. So I thought, for me personally, it would be a good challenge to test myself. So that was the main reason.
What were you hoping to get out of the experience?
When I accepted the invitation to take part in CelebritySAS: Who Dares Wins, I didn't know how to swim and I had really bad anxiety. I had suffered from anxiety for ages. I would refuse to do a lot of things because I felt anxious. So I knew I was going to be put into situations that I didn't want to do, and I needed to learn how to be okay with not being okay. So all of that scared me. I had lots of fears entering the show.
Did you do any preparation for the course?
I learnt to swim! But of course, swimming in a swimming pool in your bathing suit is very different to swimming in the ocean, in the freezing cold with your boots and your kit on! I only had really four weeks to prepare, and I wasn't actively fit. I didn't really go to the gym that often. I remember trying a training programme, and I was trying to run, and at one kilometre, I was exhausted. I wasn't physically fit. And then I started trying to run, be able to run a longer distance than I was used to. So in the small period, I tried to do as much as I could. But of course, for something like that, you need longer than four weeks!
Who would you say you bonded with the most out of the other recruits?
Lucy, I had quite a good friendship with her. I mean a few days after we stopped filming, I went to her wedding, but also Adam,Bimini, Conor Benn, Troy, all of them, we still keep in contact. I feel like I formed more close bonds with them. I think it was such an amazing mix, I liked every single person that was there, and everybody got on really well.
Would you say you learnt anything from the DS?
I mean, they're incredibly strong, resilient people. You don't normally meet people that are faced with the challenges and the things that they have to do. And I guess when you listen to them and you talk to them, you realise that the things that you worry about in your everyday life really don't freaking matter. The things we're stressing about every day, they don't matter when you have people like them in the Army or SAS. What they have to go through when they are in times of war, you don't really understand that. And then listening to their stories and hearing how different your life could have been, I felt like it was so admirable. And I looked at them in awe because of everything that they have done. And then, of course you gain a whole level of respect for these people as well. So you want to do the best for them, you want to please them and show them the best that you can be.
What challenged you the most, the physical or mental side of the course?
Physically, I was not fit. Even going to get to the challenge, a lot of the time you're running three or four kilometres, and in the heat with your 20kg bergen, so getting there is difficult.. And for some of the challenges, upper body strength, I just didn't have it. Physically, I was obviously challenged a lot with that. Mentally, I had the problem that every time we were going on a mission or a challenge, which sometimes was an hour in the car, I would start feeling sick, I wanted to vomit, I felt really nauseous. I felt like I needed to get over this. But I knew I could do this. So mentally, for me, that was really difficult. Mentally there was a lot of pep talking going on in my mind on the way to all of these challenges.
How would you sum up your SAS experience?
It is an amazing opportunity to experience that. We don't get to experience those types of things in life. And it really pushes you and completely strips you of everything else. Everything that you're known for, everything that you know, it strips you of that, and you're just kind of in a survival mode. I think that's so important for us to learn, so I was so grateful for it. I'm so proud and happy that I did it, I think it was one of the best things I've ever done.