Schapelle’s proud to be stepping out
SHE’S one of the most polarising figures in Australia – but Gold Coaster Schapelle Corby has learnt not to care.
Corby has spoken out in one of her most revealing interviews ahead of hitting the dance floor, 17 years after her arrest at Bali’s Denpasar airport with 4.2kg of marijuana in her boogie-board bag.
As the surprise “Wildcard” entry in Dancing With the Stars: All Stars, premiering on Seven on Sunday night, Corby’s twirl beneath the mirror has attracted widespread controversy, with more than 50,000 comments on the show’s Facebook site, many of them complaints.
But, in an exclusive interview, Corby, 44, says she no longer cares what people think of her. “I know who I am now. I am strong. I have people I can trust. I have an incredible family, I have people who love me. I have people who like me. I like myself,” Corby says.
“I know everyone has an opinion on me, I get that completely, but it doesn’t mean I have to buy into it, and I can’t let what anyone feels affect how I feel about myself. I have made myself learn not to care.”
After spending nine years in Bali’s notorious Kerobokan prison, and three years on parole in Bali, a pardon from Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono saw Corby fly home to Australia on May 27, 2017.
Since returning home, Corby has struggled with mental health issues, and she is urging others “not to feel ashamed” about their own battles.
“I consider myself very lucky to be living in a time when it’s okay not to be okay,” says Corby, who also reveals her first foray into reality television on action series SAS Australia was “to get me out of my bedroom”.
“I’m not shy about talking about mental health, I am
very proud that I have survived it. I climbed out and I want to tell others to please not feel ashamed. If you need help, put your hand up and ask for it.”
Training up to eight hours a day for Dancing With the Stars, Corby says she is the fittest – and happiest – she has been in a long time, also revealing COVID-19 has meant she has not seen her long-term, Bali-based boyfriend, Ben Panangian, in two years.
I’M NOT SHY ABOUT TALKING ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH … I CLIMBED OUT AND I WANT TO TELL OTHERS TO PLEASE NOT FEEL ASHAMED
SCHAPELLE CORBY