Matthew Mitcham Dives Right Into SAS Australia 2023
Australian Olympian Matthew Mitcham has been announced as one of the competitors joining SAS Australia 2023. Mitcham has shared how his life has been since his historic win in 2008 and how his healing journey involved addressing addiction and depression.
Entering SAS Australia 2023, Mitcham is sober, happily married to husband Luke Rutherford and exploring exciting new career opportunities, reports So Dramatic.
A new challenge for the Olympian
Matthew Mitcham came out as gay in 2008 in the lead-up to the Beijing Games and we featured him on the cover of DNA #105. It was around this time that Matthew reports feeling like his whole life was focussed on winning gold.
Matthew won in the 10-metre platform diving event at the Games. No other Australian male had won this event since 1924 and it made him a world champion. Returning home was another story; struggling with depression Matthew turned to drugs and alcohol and eventually sought help through rehab.
“All that stuff came back with vengeance after Beijing. I shamed myself a lot for having depression and for feeling the way I felt because I felt like it was unjustified,” he tells PinkNews.
“I was so ashamed – that really prevented me from getting help, so I went back to using the same coping mechanisms that I’d used before to change the way I felt, which was drugs.”
His entrance into SAS Australia will see the former diver undergo a series of back-breaking challenges and feats of physical endurance as he attempts to pass tests from the real SAS selection process.
“To prepare for SAS, I have jumped in icy water in Amsterdam, I have eaten a spoonful of crushed chilis and cayenne pepper while chopping onion to simulate tear gas,” says Matthew. “I have run up the biggest hill in London wearing boots and a 20kg weight vest.”
SAS Australia isn’t the only exciting career move Matthew made this year; in February he joined OnlyFans to connect better with his base and offer exclusive content. All in all, Matthew appears to be thriving and we wish him luck in the upcoming reality competition!
To read our issue featuring Matthew Mitcham on the cover, pick up a copy of DNA #105 here.
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