Convicted drug smuggler Cassie Sainsbury reveals her surprise baby plans with wife Tatiana

‘Cocaine Cassie’ Sainsbury has opened up about her plans to start a family and her new online fitness program.

Convicted drug smuggler Cassie Sainsbury has hinted at plans to start a family with wife Tatiana.

The Adelaide personal trainer was coy when asked but said the happy couple could be welcoming a baby in the not-too-distant future.

“That’s probably closer than we all think. It’s potentially in the works soon,” she said.

Sainsbury, 28, met partner Tatiana, an IT technician, through mutual friends in a Colombian nightclub in 2021.

They eventually tied the knot in a beachside ceremony in Colombia in early 2022.

In a wide-ranging interview, Sainsbury also revealed the physical and mental scars of her ordeal in a Colombian prison continue to haunt her.

Twelve months since returning home to Adelaide with Tatiana, Sainsbury said she’s tried to move on from her chequered past but it’s been a difficult transition back to normal life.

Cassie Sainsbury with her wife Tatiana. Pics: Supplied

In March this year, the painful memories of her time in notorious El Buen ­Pastor women’s jail suddenly came flooding back.

Sainsbury, 28, spent three years behind bars after being caught with a suitcase containing 5.8kg of cocaine in Colombia in April 2017.

“It hit me quite hard, it was completely unexpected. I thought I was okay and then … I was having nightmares, I was reliving everything I went through in the last seven years,” she said.

She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and saw a psychologist to help her “process” what she experienced.

“I’d never really expressed emotion before, I just got through it,” she said.

“I did that because I didn’t want my family seeing how hard it was on me but at the end of the day, it took its toll.

“Thankfully I came out the other side. I managed to pull myself out of the rut.”

While in jail, the personal trainer said she almost died when a bacterial infection in her stomach caused her to lose up to 30kg. She still has stomach issues to this day, including irritable bowel syndrome.

“It nearly killed me and it’s something that won’t ever go away because it did so much damage in such a short time,” she said.

“I was hospitalised for two weeks and by the end I was weighing only 39kg.”

Cassie Sainsbury and her wife Tatiana posted on her Instagram page. Picture: @cassiesainsbury/Instagram

Through it all has been her partner Tatiana, whom she describes as her “biggest fan”.

“She’s always supporting me in everything,” Sainsbury said.

It was with her encouragement that Sainsbury, a personal trainer who once owned a gym on the Yorke Peninsula, decided to launch her new online fitness program, Cassie Leigh Fitness.

After putting on weight due to her health issues, Sainsbury drafted her own Hour Glass Body Challenge and tested it on herself.

The program helped her drop a massive four dress sizes in five months this year.

“Tatiana absolutely loves it. She knows that me finding employment is not that easy. I don’t tick a lot of boxes anymore,” she said.

“When I told her I was going to go out and invest in myself, she was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it, you’ll be great’.”

As part of the program, Sainsbury is also offering personal fitness sessions for $65. She hopes it can help other women with their own body image issues.

“I’ve always hated my body, hated looking at myself in the mirror. I’d spend most of my days comparing myself to what society expected women to look like,” she said.

Cassie Sainsbury is appearing on SAS: Australia Picture: Supplied

Convicted South Australian drug smuggler and reality television personality Cassie Sainsbury. Pics: Supplied

“But it’s about not overdoing it and being a stick figure or being super muscly. It’s about finding that middle ground because it’s okay to be curvy as well.”

There are also plans for a new body sculpting business, based on a Brazilian technique that Sainsbury learned while living in Colombia. She spent 27 months there after leaving jail due to strict parole conditions.

Settling back home in Adelaide has been tough in more ways than one for Sainsbury.

Work remains hard to come by and she’s struggled to make new friends.

“Some people recognise me, some people don’t,” she said.

“I had an incident in early January when someone recognised me in the street. They called me a murderer and spat in my face.

“To be honest, I still keep to myself quite a lot. It is what it is.

“It’s hard for me to trust people but I’m okay. One of the things that’s allowed me to push through past everything that’s happened is having a can-do attitude and not let it bring me down.”

The programs are available via her Cassie Leigh Fitness business at cassieleighfitness.myshopify.com