{"id":374793,"date":"2025-08-26T11:23:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T11:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/374793\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T11:23:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T11:23:14","slug":"peru-two-michaella-mccollum-finishes-military-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/374793\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Peru Two&#8217; Michaella McCollum finishes military course"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1755184337_952_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dkIvM hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/123838a0-8259-11f0-b754-d759fe66916b.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Pete Dadds\/Channel4 Michaella McCollum has long blonde hair and is looking at the camera with a neutral expression on her face as she folds her arms. She is standing on a beach with large, jagged rocks behind her. She is wearing a green zip-up jacket.\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj\"\/>Pete Dadds\/Channel4<\/p>\n<p>Michaella McCollum, from Dungannon in County Tyrone, said the experience was one of the &#8220;best things&#8221; she&#8217;s ever done<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">A woman from County Tyrone who was sent to prison for drug smuggling in South America has become one of three recruits to complete the latest series of Channel 4&#8217;s Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Win.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Contestants in the military-style show are faced with gruelling physical and psychological tests that are supposed to mimic special forces training.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Michaella McCollum, alongside former X Factor contestant Lucy Spraggan and former footballer Troy Deeney, <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cx27p766d9po\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 bGFWdi\" rel=\"noopener\">passed the selection course in Wales<\/a> as the seventh series wrapped up on Monday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">After being told of their success, the trio agreed to get matching tattoos as a reminder of their achievement.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1755184337_952_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dkIvM hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/aa5ab9c0-825c-11f0-b146-97f338dfbf31.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Channel 4 Lucy Spraggan, Troy Deeney and Michaella McCollum stand on a beach with their arms around each other, smiling at the camera. The three are wearing green army style jumpers and camo trousers.\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj\"\/>Channel 4<\/p>\n<p>Lucy Spraggan, Troy Deeney and Michaella McCollum came out on top on Monday night&#8217;s episode<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">McCollum, who <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/bbcthree\/article\/a889454e-6082-4d05-8d2b-5c0620e0f2e0\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 bGFWdi\" rel=\"noopener\">became known as one of the &#8216;Peru Two&#8217; <\/a>after being caught smuggling 11kg of cocaine out of Lima Airport in 2013, said throughout her life she had made &#8220;so many mistakes&#8221;, allowing her to stay within her comfort zone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">&#8220;I think that this is something so challenging and something I never thought that I could possibly do,&#8221; the 31-year-old said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">&#8220;Learning that I&#8217;m capable of doing that would feel quite amazing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;There&#8217;s more to me than football&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Former striker and Watford captain Deeney said the experience has taught him that he can be proud of himself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">&#8220;I&#8217;m hoping to be able to come through and be proud of myself. I put myself up for this, I did the work for it,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">&#8220;I&#8217;m getting bored of being Troy the footballer, because there&#8217;s a lot more of me than that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1755184337_952_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dkIvM hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/f6da9910-6faa-11f0-b5fb-6f47bc0a9825.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Pete Dadds | Channel 4 The celebrity recruits, wearing military fatigues, line up on a beach with their backs to the sea. They are stood in two rows, some with their arms crossed, with serious expressions. \" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj\"\/>Pete Dadds | Channel 4<\/p>\n<p>Fourteen recruits were part of the latest series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, which filmed in Wales<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Reflecting on her time on the show Spraggan, who had previously spoken out about her trauma <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/entertainment-arts-66190895\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 bGFWdi\" rel=\"noopener\">after she was raped while filming the X Factor in 2012<\/a>, said <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">&#8220;Everything that has happened in my life had to happen for me to be here exactly where I am right now,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">&#8220;There&#8217;s nothing I&#8217;d trade in this world to not be exactly where I am right now.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pete Dadds\/Channel4 Michaella McCollum, from Dungannon in County Tyrone, said the experience was one of the &#8220;best things&#8221;&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3937],"tags":[77,382,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-374793","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-tv","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115094815357179378","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}