SAS Australia and a new wife: This is what 'Cocaine Cassie's' life looks like now.

In April 2017, Adelaide woman Cassie Sainsbury made international headlines when she was arrested with almost six kilograms of cocaine in her luggage at Bogota Airport in Colombia. 

The 27-year-old would be sentenced to six years behind bars later that year, but would serve just three in Colombia's notorious El Buen women's prison.

Amid the conflicting storylines, the links drawn to other similar cases and the media storm surrounding the case, Sainsbury was quickly dubbed 'Cocaine Cassie'. And it's a monicker that stuck. 

Now almost three years after being released from prison, Sainsbury has built a completely different life for herself. 

Sainsbury is now appearing on the reality TV series SAS Australia, which sees well-known figures or celebrities pushed to the limit as per a real selection process for Special Forces soldiers.

"I want to leave the name Cocaine Cassie behind me," she said on the series' premiere. 

Cassie struggled with the first challenge, as the recruits were buried under the desert sand before having to run for 10km. "When I’m anxious and scared, I go into panic and shut off. It all strings back to prison and not having control over anything that’s coming up."

Speaking about the events that led to her drug conviction, Cassie shared her side of the story. 

"I’ve been labelled an international drug mule and it is true. I’m the person who committed the crime, but I was set up by the person I considered my friend," she said.

"I was offered by my friend to go with her overseas, but I didn’t realise it was trafficking drugs until everything that happened in Colombia. The day I was made to leave Colombia, they made a point of being there in the hotel packing my suitcase. I knew then that something was going into my luggage."

After she arrived to base camp, Cassie was interrogated by the DS team, and she shared she felt triggered by her experience in prison. "I spent three years in a Colombian jail. It’s all very triggering and I’m trying to deal with it as it comes, it’s not easy," she said. 

She said the regimented nature of camp was in a similar environment as prison where "even the guards there, they would yell at us".

The 28-year-old spent most of her first day in camp on the verge of tears. "I've got so many years of emotion built up because I was never allowed to show any," she said in a confessional.

"When I was told I was being sent to prison, it was like my whole world had just ended. My first night in prison, I was attacked, I was robbed. I don’t think I slept at all, it was scary," she said. 

"It was a nasty environment. I was the rich white girl and being targeted. I didn’t know how I would survive. I was almost sure that someone would kill me there."

With Sainsbury now back in the public eye, here's what her life looks like today.

Watch: Cassie Sainsbury on 7NEWS Spotlight. Post continues below.

During her time in prison, Sainsbury kept herself busy. 

She said she embraced a regular exercise routine and competed in a beauty pageant to celebrate the annual Day of the Mercedes (the patron saint of prisons), dressed as an '80s Madonna. She mostly kept herself busy as an English teacher, studying Spanish and taking classes with volunteer groups.

The director of the Michigan School in Bogota, Carlos Carrero, told Adelaide Now that Sainsbury was a "blessing" and wanted to turn her life around. Carrero said he would happily hire her after her release.

During an Instagram Live in 2020, Cassie opened up about her time behind bars, saying she'd seen "the worst ways people treat each other".

"I've seen people stabbed hundreds of times," she shared. "They had knives stuck into them. It's absolutely horrible. I learned a lot about myself, I learned a lot about people… I've learned how to analyse people better."

In April 2020, Cassie was released from prison to serve the remainder of her sentence on parole in Bogota.

Colombia's president signed a decree to see 4,000 prisoners released into home detention, amid fears of overcrowding during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Reflecting on the whole ordeal, Sainsbury said late last year that it's been a tough road - but one she has learned a lot from.

"Words can't ever explain what I feel every day for the past I lived and for the people I hurt. Words won't ever be able to describe the place that I barely managed to crawl out of and what it did to me. I know many people believe that I deserve everything I got, but I wouldn't ever wish it on my worst enemy," she said.

"Going through such a thing, it changes you, I'm not the same person I was all those years ago and although you may not see it and I don't show it but that doesn't mean I don't hurt or struggle but I had to move forward because that's all I can do, I acknowledge my past but I can't live in it.

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A post shared by Cassie Sainsbury (@cassiesainsbury)

As for her love life, Sainsbury was well known to have been in a relationship with her then Australian partner Scott Broadbridge when she was first arrested and sent to prison. 

They vowed to stick together, but in 2018 Sainsbury confirmed during a KIIS FM interview that they had broken up, the distance and drama the apparent cause. 

While in prison, Sainsbury did find love with another prisoner, named Joli. 

Speaking to New Idea from inside the prison in 2019, Sainsbury said she didn't expect to find love but her relationship with "funny, very outgoing" Joli blossomed and they slowly fell in love.

Sainsbury said Joli proposed to her following a soccer match at the prison. But once she had finished her sentence and left the prison, the relationship quickly eroded.

But then she found her person. 

In early 2022, Sainsbury married her girlfriend, a computer technician named Tatiana. 

The pair were engaged in November 2021, and married in Colombia. Reflecting on the marriage, Sainsbury said she credits her wife for helping her get through life "one day at a time" and making her situation "just that little bit easier".

"She's my motor, she's the person that keeps me going and our life together is only just beginning," she wrote on Instagram. And in late 2022, Sainsbury shared their wedding video online - Tatiana wearing a pink suit and Sainsbury in a beautiful white dress with baby's breath flowers in her hair.

"One of the best days of my life, marrying my best friend was a dream come true. She's my world," Sainsbury said.

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A post shared by Cassie Sainsbury (@cassiesainsbury)

Speaking on the relationship to Daily Mail Australia, Sainsbury said: "I feel like I'm the happiest I've ever been. It's nice to feel like I can be myself with no judgement from someone who is always there for me."

The couple are now back in Australia, since Sainsbury finished up her prison sentence and parole period in Colombia. 

Although keen to get back to her life in South Australia, she previously said that married life would probably involve the couple living between two countries.

In Colombia, Sainsbury has worked regularly as an English teacher. 

Before the conviction and drug smuggling saga, Sainsbury also worked as a personal trainer. Now that her social media is often filled with images of her fitness journey - and the fact she's going on SAS - perhaps a future career in this field is on the horizon.

"It's taken me a long time to feel comfortable in my own body, it's taken a lot of hard work, dedication and self love and I think loving yourself has so much to do in whatever journey we take, we need to love ourselves to be able to move forward and not be distracted by obstacles or cruel comments," she wrote on Instagram recently.

"To all women out there, love yourself the way you are and you'll start to see some incredible changes within you."

Feature Image: Instagram/Channel 7.

This article was originally published in March 2023, and has since been updated with new information.

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