NRL legend Sam Thaiday has competed on Celebrity Apprentice and was crowned king of the jungle in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! – but jumping into shark-infested waters in the Bahamas in the name of a new reality show? That phone call from his agent was an interesting one!
“I gave them the old long pause and, ‘I’ll think about it…’ with a big question mark,” Sam tells Woman’s Day about his new show, Shark! In it Australian celebrities travel to the island of Bimini to undertake a series of challenges testing their resilience and bravery.
“I think the most daunting part of the whole process was having to make sure my will was updated, my life insurance was updated and all the bases were covered, just in case!”
Jumping in the deep end
The 40-year-old was in good company, with Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus, soap star Lynne McGranger, The Block’s Scott Cam, actor Matt Nable and reality star Tammy Hembrow joining the shark-related adventures.
Survivor-turned-advocate Paul de Gelder, who lost his right hand and leg in a Sydney Harbour bull shark attack, and shark researcher Annie Guttridge, came along for the ride to ensure the small group weren’t totally thrown in the deep end.
“I think any time you were standing on the back of the boat was the scariest thing because you knew that you had to get into the water with these creatures, in their home base,” Sam says of the scuba diving tasks.
“My internal dialogue was pretty loud at that point in time. There was one occasion where there would have been at least 10 or 15 Caribbean reef sharks just circling off the back of the boat. And we were fully kitted up in all of our scuba gear and it was a leap of faith.”
Given the close quarters and the intimidating tasks they each had to face, it’s no wonder the co-stars got to know each other in record time!
“By the end of it we were calling each other ‘sharkmates’, which is better than shark bait,” Sam laughs. “It’s funny when you’re going through something like that, how quickly teamwork unfolds quite naturally. We were there to support each other and we all became friends really, really quickly.”
At certain points, the former footballer even put on his mentoring hat to help some of the younger crew overcome their fear and anxiety about the situation.
“Ariarne speaks about it really openly, she absolutely loves swimming – as long as it’s in a swimming pool,” Sam says.
“There were a few times I almost felt like I had the coach’s hat on and I was trying to coach her into getting into the water.”
Pushing the limits
Though he admits to being apprehensive before joining the show, Sam’s glad he pushed himself to try something new – and most of all, to lead by example for his young daughters, Gracie, 13, and Ellsie, 11.
“Inspiring my own daughters to be brave enough to take on a task that is scary, that’s hopefully what my own family and other families can take from the show,” he says. “It was a real test to your courage, and such an educational experience. That’s the thing I’ve taken the most from this.”
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