Outback Wrangler Matt Wright and his model wife Kaia have built a seemingly idyllic life in the Top End thanks to the success of their hit show.
Her social media feeds, which have a combined audience of nearly a million people, are filled with photos of her adventurous (and often glamorous) lifestyle in the country’s outback with her two young children.
In a recent photo, for example, Wright, 45, smiles while holding a huge Spanish mackerel with his adoring wife by his side on a recent family fishing trip.
Meanwhile, their own social media page is flooded with similarly happy family photos, boat excursions, and sponsored posts about protein powders or skin products.
The casual observer would have no idea that both have been charged over an airboat accident that left a woman with a fractured skull and seven other people seriously injured.
The ship crashed near Sweets Lagoon in the Bynoe region of the Northern Territory, about 118 kilometers southwest of Darwin, on May 10, 2023.
Wright and his influential wife, 35, are listed as directors of Adventure company Top End Safari Camp, which could be fined more than $5 million in total for the incident, after being charged by NT WorkSafe.
Mr. and Mrs. Wright have been charged with three violations of the law and face combined penalties of up to $700,000 each.
Outback Wrangler Matt Wright and his model wife Kaia have built an idyllic life in the Top End thanks to the success of the hit show, but now everything is at stake.
Kaia Wright is the glamorous mother of two, social media influencer who combines crocodile wrestling with beauty tips and has her own 5.5 meter pet crocodile called Tripod.
Kaia and Matt Wright (pictured with son Banjo, 4) met when the TV star suddenly landed his helicopter near her while she was with friends on a boat off Rottnest Island in 2014.
This leaves another potentially costly legal case hanging over their heads.
The airboat accident is unrelated to a helicopter crash in February 2022 in which Wright’s Outback Wrangler co-star Chris ‘Willow’ Wilson was killed and pilot Sebastian Robinson was also seriously injured.
Wilson, 34, was hanging from a helicopter to retrieve crocodile eggs in West Arnhem Land when the plane hit trees and crashed to the ground, killing him.
In 2023, Mr Wilson’s widow, Danielle, commenced proceedings in the Federal Court seeking compensation for personal injuries and for her husband’s loss of income.
Wright will face a trial on charges related to the helicopter crash investigation, starting July 7 next year, which is expected to last eight weeks.
The Netflix celebrity has pleaded not guilty to perverting the course of justice following the crash that killed Wilson.
The only charge relates to alleged behavior after the accident in which Mr Wright was allegedly one of the first to arrive at the scene.
Not that you would notice any of this if you looked at Ms. Wright’s Instagram feed.
On Friday, the day after it was revealed she could face a $700,000 personal fine for alleged security lapses, Wright shared a series of photos of herself and her family enjoying a stay at Brisbane’s five-star Calile hotel.
They lounged poolside for the day before enjoying drinks and oysters at a glamorous rooftop bar.
It is known that the enthusiastic athlete and her family will travel to Noosa, where she will take part in the region’s world-famous triathlon on Sunday.
Mrs Wright, who is 183cm tall, was never at her husband’s side during his many trials after they first met in a fairy tale eight years ago.
Kaia was drinking champagne on a boat off Western Australia’s Rottnest Island in 2014 as she lamented her shocking love life to some close friends.
“I just hope an angel falls from heaven,” he told them.
And then fate intervened.
“By chance, this helicopter came in and landed in front of us,” she later told Stellar magazine about that first meeting with her future husband.
Everything was messed up. He put on some shorts and jumped.
Kaia Wright’s social media followers are constantly updated about her exciting and glamorous life inside.
Kaia Wright’s Instagram is a unique combination of outback wildlife and beauty products.
They exchanged numbers on the first date (she put hers next to ‘Big Kid’, he put his next to ‘Legend’) and a whirlwind romance ensued.
They got engaged in 2016 and married in 2017.
The couple now have a sprawling home in the remote NT outback which they share with their two children, 15 rescued crocodiles, three pigs (Pepsi, Truffle and Cola), two dingoes, Ernie and Albie, seven snakes and a collection of tree frogs greens.
Kaia had grown up in the Kimberley region of WA, where her parents worked in community development in Broome and Derby before she attended secondary school in Perth.
She studied journalism at Sydney University (and later wrote her husband’s best-selling life story) before turning to advertising.
Now she combines her family role with television demands and a growing social media following, approaching 100,000 people who keep up to date with her exciting and glamorous life in the outback.
Her Instagram account is a unique combination of outback wildlife and beauty products, jumping from one theme to another in every other image.
She details her life on the inside, fighting crocodiles at one point and then praising the latest hair care product as a brand ambassador.
Its popularity has skyrocketed thanks to Wright’s National Geographic adventure show, which has aired for 10 years.
The series screens in 100 countries where Wright’s daredevil exploits have made him a household name to many.
Its success has now sparked a multimillion-dollar deal with Netflix for the 10-episode first season of its new show, Wild Croc Territory, with a second season planned.
In the new production, Wright combines his on-screen adventures with a lucrative off-screen executive producer role, alongside his wife’s agent, Nick Fordham, brother of 2GB’s Ben Fordham.
They also run Top End Safari Camp, 120 kilometers south of Darwin, a luxury glamping experience for $895 a night in luxury tents to give tourists a taste of life in the Wright outback.
Wright’s Outback Wrangler show on National Geographic has been running for 10 years and is shown in 100 countries.
The Wrights also run Top End Safari Camp, 120km south of Darwin, a luxury glamping experience for $895 a night in luxury tents to give tourists a taste of life in the Wright outback.
The couple are also building a luxurious new designer home in Darwin, which was revealed in an artist’s impression (pictured) posted on social media by their architect.
The couple are also building a luxurious new designer home in Darwin.
“For us it is very interesting to live between so many different worlds,” he told Escape magazine.
“We’ll have to go to events and do everything around town, but it makes you appreciate what you have here a lot more.”