SAS Australia: Nick Cummins and Sabrina Frederick’s shocking fight
The on-screen fight between Nick Cummins and Sabrina Frederick on Channel Seven’s new reality show shocked viewers and left the AFLW star shaken. SEE THE VIDEO
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Reality TV got unexpectedly real during Monday night’s premiere of Channel 7’s SAS Australia and it wasn’t pretty.
The show sees celebrities complete a gruelling SAS (Special Air Service) selection course and I sat in horror watching a man repeatedly punch a woman in the head during a mini boxing match.
The confronting scene has raised important questions about gender equality and what exactly that looks like in 2020.
At 189cm and 96kg, former rugby player Nick Cummins, 33, lunged at 23-year-old AFLW star Sabrina Frederick and while the vicious fight was consensual, it made for uncomfortable viewing.
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Frederick, who is 182cm and 97kg, was overpowered by the former Bachelor star in scenes that were similar to what played out on the UK version last year, when a woman was beaten by a male rival as part of the show’s military-style training.
The fight divided UK viewers and while some slammed it as “inappropriate” others brushed it off as “entertainment”.
Meanwhile, the visual of Cummins punching Frederick with full force is not one I’ll forget any time soon.
It was particularly uncomfortable as it goes against everything we stand for as a society and women make up the vast majority of domestic violence cases in Australia (which has reportedly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic).
Although Frederick insisted she was “fine” afterwards, she still looked visibly shaken.
Yes, women have spent decades fighting for equality but are blows to the head from men for “entertainment” purposes really the answer?
We all know that reality TV is designed to be confronting, and on that score SAS Australia delivered. And of course equality between the sexes is something that we should — at least in theory — be able to take for granted.
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But forgive me for saying that there was something about that boxing scene that made me more than a little uncomfortable.
Normalising violence is bad enough — although we accept, even demand it, from the military.
As the old saying, sometimes attributed to Orwell, goes: “We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would hurt us.”
Normalising violence between men and women is something else entirely, and no wonder I (and surely many others) felt an instinctive revulsion as the scene played out, fearing that it might give domestic abusers a further twisted excuse.
The aggressive environment proved to be all too much for at least one female contestant, Roxy Jacenko, who bailed after just six hours.
The eastern suburbs publicist broke down and quit after being repeatedly shouted at by an all-male group of ex-Special Forces soldiers.
Convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby and former Bachelorette Ali Oetjen were also in tears as they reached breaking point.
And yet, putting that serious discomfort aside, there is something to be said for this new offering.
Despite a few jarring scenes, Channel 7’s action-packed reality show was a refreshing change after years of scripted drama and predictable storylines on rival networks.
Originally published as SAS Australia: Nick Cummins and Sabrina Frederick’s shocking fight