Sam Wood's fall from fitness influencer to alleged DV offender
As Sam Wood sat in his cell on Thursday afternoon, he leaned forward.
Days earlier, the 46-year-old television personality was charged with assaulting and strangling his wife on a family holiday in Noosa.
Instead of flying back to Melbourne with his family, the fitness guru was confined to a police watch house.
After a long preamble, the magistrate delivered news Mr Wood did not want to hear.
His bail application was refused, with the wealthy businessman ordered to remain behind bars.
Alleged incident
The alleged incident at the luxury beachside resort spanned a short period with devastating consequences.
In Noosa on Saturday night, police allege Mr Wood threw his wife against a wall and tried to strangle her after an argument.
Snezana Wood and her daughter Eve Markoski-Wood, either side of Sam Wood. (Supplied)
The prosecutor told the court of an incident "of a similar nature" in Victoria a few years ago.
"It involved choking, he also threw her up against a wall and floor and tried to strangle her," sergeant Jeanette Grigoris told the court.
Magistrate Janelle Boegheim said while no police statement was made, the alleged incident and the "history of the relationship" would be admissible as evidence.
"To be clear, that [Victorian] allegation is no proof of any criminal conduct," Ms Boegheim said.
The court heard Ms Wood's video statement described her husband as "volatile and prone to angry outbursts" and she was "compelled to walk on eggshells around him".
Sam Wood appeared via video link in the Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Thursday. (Supplied: @scottbreton)
The court also heard Mr Wood's bail conditions would involve seeking therapeutic intervention due to a severe depressive disorder.
"He alleges he did not share [this] with his wife or family members to protect them," Ms Boegheim said.
Mr Wood's lawyer told the court his client denied both charges and had never faced the criminal justice system.
Who is Sam Wood?
In 2015, Samuel James Wood was a personal trainer at his gym in Melbourne's south-east when he was selected as the lead of The Bachelor.
The reality TV dating show was relatively new to Australia and quickly gained a loyal following.
Sam Wood rose to fame after featuring on the reality TV show The Bachelor in 2015. (Supplied: The Bachelor Australia, Facebook)
In the final episode Sam chose Snezana, a single mother from Perth, as his winner. The couple married in 2018.
The series also provided the platform to launch his next project, 28 by Sam Wood.
The fitness platform targeting women quickly took off, and earned him a fortune.
Mr Wood sold the business to pharma billionaire Dennis Bastas in 2022 for a reported $71 million and acquired a small stake in the larger business.
The former Bachelor star founded a fitness program targeting women called 28 by Sam Wood. (Supplied: 28 by Sam Wood, Facebook)
While he relinquished ownership, he remained the public face of the popular program.
But on Tuesday, the company severed all ties with Mr Wood and scrubbed his face from the platform's website.
Court colour
The atmosphere outside court on Thursday afternoon was tinged with anticipation.
Dozens of journalists, photographers and cameramen — some who travelled from interstate — crowded the footpath outside Maroochydore Magistrates Court.
Dozens of journalists crowded Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Thursday. (ABC Sunshine Coast: Josh Dye)
As journalists filled the foyer waiting for the court room to open, a passing police officer said: "What's everyone here for?"
Many members of the media expected he would be granted bail, with plans hatched to capture the moment he would walk out of the watch house, through a throng of reporters and into a waiting vehicle.
When Mr Wood's lawyers arrived, his father Andrew was also in tow.
The 73-year-old was a key part of the bail application, with a mooted plan for Mr Wood to live with his father about 50 kilometres from the family home in Melbourne.
Inside court with a room full of journalists, Andrew Wood cut a lone figure sitting in support of his son who was beamed into the court room via video link.
Sam Wood's father, Andrew Wood, entered the court with Mr Wood's legal team. (ABC News: Nykayla Dux)
The next 90 minutes shocked observers in court one as graphic details about the alleged incident were aired.
By the time the acting magistrate read out her decision to refuse bail, most in the room were unsurprised.
Under Queensland law, strangulation does not have to be prolonged and can last only a few seconds.
The offence, which was only added a decade ago, carries a maximum seven-year jail sentence.
The prosecutor told the court on Thursday that Mr Wood could expect jail time if convicted.
"In my submission a term of imprisonment is likely … and would be within the range of two years,"
Sergeant Grigoris said.
Next steps
Following the hearing, Mr Wood was transferred to Wacol prison in Brisbane's south-west.
Sam Wood was transferred to the Brisbane Correctional Facility in Wacol. (ABC News: Leonie Mellor)
His legal team is preparing to file a bail application in the Supreme Court, which could be heard as early as next week.
His defence team may again seek to contest the strength of the prosecution's evidence, which solicitor Mathew Cuskelly attempted to do on Thursday.
Mr Cuskelly told the court the lack of photographic evidence of Ms Wood's neck area was relevant given the strangulation charge.
"One would assume the investigators would have photographed that area, but they are absent," he told the court.
Mr Cuskelly also said a doctor's opinion should have been sought to comment on Ms Wood's injuries, and that the responding paramedic's evidence should be approached "cautiously".
Pending the outcome of any Supreme Court bail application, Mr Wood will remain in prison ahead of his next court appearance on the Sunshine Coast on November 23.
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