There’s stressful situations, and then there’s being willingly strapped into a chair inside a plane that’s submerged at the bottom of the sea. It’s a concept almost too unfathomably awful to contemplate.
But it’s precisely what we see stage and screen star Natalie Bassingthwaighte being subjected to in the first episode of SAS Australia, hitting screens this month.
She must swim to the surface and save herself to pass the test — stressful much? You can say that again. So why on earth would anyone willingly put themselves in that situation?
“Ha, it’s a good question,” says the star, who is chatting to STM ahead of the SAS: AUS v ENG premiere.
“I knew this show was going to bring up fears, and that challenging myself would be a certainty — but scaring myself? I don’t know why I decided to do it to myself! I guess I just wanted to see how strong and how brave I could be.”
It’s clear after watching the first episode, the answer to that is a resounding: very.
This iteration of the series sees seven British celebs go head-to-head with seven Aussie names “(to) face a series of physical and psychological tests from the real SAS selection process under the harsh sun of the Moroccan desert”.
Bassingthwaighte, known both here and in the UK thanks to her stint on Neighbours, is repping Australia in this instance.
Joining her in the gruelling competition is fellow Neighbours icon Ryan Moloney, plus musician and actor Axle Whitehead, Olympian Mack Horton and reality TV star Jessika Power. UK identities include Love Island’s Dani Dyer and Gabby Allen, social media stars Cole Anderson-James and Jack Joseph, and rugby legend Ben Cohen.
Some challenges see them competing against one another, some have them split by country. Despite the cultural divide, they all managed to trauma-bond with one another.
“And you know what? I am actually very proud of myself,” Bassingthwaighte admits. “It took me nearly 50 years to feel like that.”
Competing in this show is an extreme way to prove something to yourself.
But doing death-defying feats is just one of several ways the 50-year-old singer and actress has pushed herself beyond her comfort zone these past few years.
It’s not been an easy ride. In August 2023 Bassingthwaighte made headlines after her 12-year marriage to her Rogue Traders drummer husband Cameron McGlinchey broke down (they had actually separated the year before).
Three months later, she went public with a new partner, Pip Loth. The pair celebrated their engagement in October last year.
It took considerable bravery to embark on such a thorough life overhaul, and Bassingsthwaighte has admitted just how “terrified” she was to announce her new same-sex relationship to the world.
It was a challenge indeed, but it did have one upside: by the time SAS came calling last year, Bassingthwaighte knew she had done the work, and for the first time she felt ready to give the show a red-hot go.
She was strong, she was steadfast — and she was ready to make herself proud.
“I was asked a few years before (to do the show), and my mental health wasn’t great then. But with everything, I always go, ‘Oh, let me think about it,’ and I do my due diligence,” she explains.
After bingeing her way through old series, where she saw previous contestants subjected to some truly hair-raising challenges as well as being tested by the show’s DS (Directing Staff) — which this time around include chief instructor Mark “Billy” Billingham, along with Jason “Foxy” Fox, Rudy Reyes and Chris Oliver — she was left in no doubt.
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, what was I thinking? There’s no way I can do that,” she laughs. “For a start, I didn’t think I’d be able to handle the men yelling at me! But just physically as well, I knew I wouldn’t be strong enough.
“I have arthritis in my toes now from dancing in five-inch heels for all those years — she ain’t a spring chicken anymore!”
Saying no was the obvious response.
But fast forward several years — and one very public life overhaul — and Bassingthwaighte says she is in a stronger place, both physically and mentally.
“I just was like, ‘I wonder if I can block out the noise?’” she says, going on to add that she had just three weeks to physically prepare before filming commenced.
“I had done a lot of work on my mental health, and have what I call my toolbox: I have my box breathing and my tapping and meditation, and all my mind-positive thoughts and affirmations. I thought, ‘I wonder if I could use all that in this kind of environment?’
“I was really intrigued.”
It was a bucket-list challenge she couldn’t refuse: “I figured, ‘50 things before 50’, this has got to be a bucket-list moment, right? Like, who gets this opportunity?”
So off to Morocco she went.
Bassingthwaighte admits it was a huge leap of faith, and though her family were 100 per cent behind her decision to compete, her two teenage kids still had their reservations.
“They were so nervous for me,” she admits.
“Because they know my mental health struggles, and of course with some of the actual intense things that get thrown upon you — they were really worried.”
In the show, contestants are subjected to intense psychological questioning as well as all the physical challenges, and nothing is off limits.
“They were like, ‘Mum, if you don’t want to do it, don’t do it,” Bassingthwaighte admits.
“They definitely were thrilled when I eventually got to call them and say that I was still alive!”
Fast forward to now and the show is finally about to hit screens, coming at a busy time for the star, who is currently on tour with Rogue Traders for their The Anthems 21st Anniversary Tour.
She has a film, Love, Wine & Valentine coming out soon — she plays the lead — and her memoir Love Like This has just hit bookshelves.
This book is her most personal project to date, with an official release saying the biography is all about “the deeply personal experiences that have shaped her life: a teenage pregnancy, two marriages and divorces, the realities of co-parenting, grief and profound loss — and ultimately, finding love again in the most unexpected place”.
Which brings us to her next big project — there’s a wedding to plan.
“Though, there is no time to plan anything — noooo, there is not!” she laughs. “Right now, it is literally, work. And outside of work it’s my kids and fiancee — and that’s it. We try and hang out as much as possible, and they are here right now, actually.
“We’re all just trying to survive — and to actually find the time to see each other!”
Thankfully, Bassingthwaighte’s family arrangements are made considerably easier by the fact she’s touring with Rogue Traders — her ex-husband is the band’s drummer, and when they are on tour, their kids often accompany them around the country.
“It’s a very modern family right now,” she laughs. “But it works for us.”
Despite the chaos, Bassingthwaighte says she’s never felt happier.
“You know what I think it is?” she ponders, “I think when you are truly aligned in mind, body and soul — and I hate to be all ‘woo-woo,’ but I kind of am — I think that’s when the universe has your back. If you are aligned, it’s hard not to not see that shine.
“If you are feeling really comfortable in your own skin, and you are really grounded and really true to (yourself) you are like a magnet, and I am achieving so many amazing things work wise. And with this crazy show, it’s like, ‘Let’s see what we can do there, Natalie.
“’Lets get in this plane, and get under the water . . . and see if you can survive.”