‘Cocaine Cassie’ Sainsbury’s Extraordinary SAS Australia Salary Revealed

His participation in the 2023 SAS Australia season has sparked controversy.

And convicted drug smuggler Cassie Sainsbury’s salary for appearing on the show is close to a six-figure sum.

According to New Idea magazine, Cassie is paid more than most of her co-stars, as a source explained, most contestants are paid around $30,000.

“Cassie is one of the highest paid in the cast this year,” the source told the magazine.

The convicted felon “has been struggling” to find work since she returned to Australia.

“His CV is not for everyone,” added the source.

In April 2017, Cassie was caught trying to smuggle 12 pounds of cocaine out of Columbia concealed in headphones. She later spent 27 months in prison.

The Adelaide native returned to Australia last September for the first time in five years, and is now ready to launch a television career.

He will star alongside Craig McLachlan and boxing champion Anthony Mundine on the Channel Seven show, which will air later this year.

He will also compete against Olympians Stephanie Rice, Peter Bol and Matthew Mitcham, as well as Balinese princess Lindy Klim, Thai cave rescue hero Dr. Craig Challen and Brownlow medalist Jason Akermanis.

For the first time in SAS Australia, the men and women will travel the high seas to a secret base in the Middle East.

They will eat, sleep, and train together in hot, arid conditions, with no concessions or exceptions for their celebrity status or gender.

Celebrities will be pushed beyond their limits like never before, as they are subjected to extreme physical resistance, sleep deprivation, interrogations and psychological tests on dramatic and unforgiving terrain.

Some will reach breaking point and drop out, the show’s press release promises.

Cassie returned to Australia for the first time in five years last September with his wife Tatiana, 34, by his side, and is set to live between Australia and Colombia.

She was forced to remain in Colombia as part of her bail conditions, but once she completed her sentence she was allowed to return home.

Although she is eager to return to her small hometown of Yorketown, 90km from Adelaide, the former inmate previously told Daily Mail Australia that married life would likely involve living between two countries.

“(Tatiana) has never been to Australia,” Sainsbury said.

“We’ll probably end up between Australia and Colombia because obviously his family is here (in Colombia) so it’s going to be like, some time here, some time there.”

He said that his whirlwind romance with Tatiana, which began in 2021, was completely unexpected.

“We had shared a group of friends and one night we went out for a birthday and we literally hit it off,” she said.

The couple quickly took their relationship to the next level with Tatiana getting down on one knee during a romantic oceanfront dinner in Cartagena, Colombia.

At the time, Cassie showed off her stunning engagement ring on social media, posting that she was nervous about trying to pick out a wedding dress.

‘I feel like I’m happier than ever. It’s nice to feel like I can be myself without being judged by someone who is always there for me,” she said.

Before her arrest, Cassie was a waitress and later went into personal training.

Her life took a dramatic turn in 2017 when she was caught trying to smuggle cocaine inside 18 boxes of earphones.

After her release, she tearfully revealed how her life had hit one low point after another.