![\"Lifestyle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/37407fc62aad092276df49ff474d67066dc2d7cdc4c7646eb5469b9c62f77d1a.jpeg\")
Lifestyle and fitness entrepreneur Sam Wood has been moved to a high-security prison in Brisbane after being denied bail on domestic violence charges. Matt Davidson<\/p>\nMillionaire lifestyle and fitness entrepreneur Sam Wood was living the picture-perfect life.<\/p>\n
The personal trainer had a reality TV star wife and he sat atop a self-made business empire, valued at $71 million, that he\u2019d just sold to a Melbourne billionaire.<\/p>\n
The 46-year-old entrepreneur shouldn\u2019t have had a care in the world, but Wood was anxious.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019ve gone from nothing \u2026 to something like that, there\u2019s a bit of imposter syndrome, there\u2019s a fear that one day something could happen, the bubble could burst and the dream could be over,\u201d he told a NZ podcast in 2024.<\/p>\n
Lifestyle and fitness entrepreneur Sam Wood has been moved to a high-security prison in Brisbane after being denied bail on domestic violence charges. Matt Davidson<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s funny, I had more anxious moments with money than I perhaps did with this sort of optimistic, youthful enthusiasm when I had none, you know, because I was like, you have something to lose.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like, \u2018f—, imagine if I lost all of this now or something happened or this wasn\u2019t real or I somehow stuffed this up.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Wood\u2019s anxiety would prove prophetic<\/a>.<\/p>\n A Triple Zero call from his stepdaughter to Queensland police on Saturday night, in which she described Wood allegedly strangling his wife, Snezana, has brought his world crashing down.<\/p>\n Related Video<\/p>\n Locked up in a watch-house cell at Maroochydore, near Noosa, after being refused bail this week, Wood will have plenty of time to reflect on how it all came to this.<\/p>\n A TV romance<\/p>\n Wood was a 34-year-old personal trainer when he went looking for love on The Bachelor Australia<\/a> in 2015.<\/p>\n Snezana, also 34 at the time, was a single mother from Perth, a scientific sales representative from a tight-knit Macedonian family and the oldest woman in that season\u2019s cast of hopefuls.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember the first time I touched her. It was a hug for a photo shoot on the first group date and I could feel something there,\u201d Wood told Jules Sebastian in an episode of podcast Tea With Jules in 2016. \u201cThat was the first time when I realised there is really something special about her.\u201d<\/p>\n Wood embraced his new partner\u2019s young daughter Eve and the child was given her stepfather\u2019s surname. He had a ready-made, photogenic family.<\/p>\n For more than a decade the genetically blessed couple were high-voltage social media and red carpet mega-stars.<\/p>\n Wood amassed almost 250,000 followers on his personal Instagram account and Snezana gathered 330,000 followers of her own.<\/p>\n They graced the cover of the likes of Who magazine, Stellar and NW, built out their fairytale to include three more young daughters and struck partnerships with brands including Weetbix, Mercedes-Benz, Bupa, 2XU and Under Armour.<\/p>\n The trappings of their wealth included multimillion-dollar homes in Melbourne\u2019s affluent Brighton<\/a> and on the Mornington Peninsula, and expensive European cars.<\/p>\n Even Eve, just nine years old when her mother appeared on The Bachelor, grew to become an influencer herself.<\/p>\n The reality of business<\/p>\n Wood leveraged his fame to build an empire, targeting women with his at-home fitness and nutrition business, 28 by Sam Wood.<\/p>\n It offered pregnancy and postnatal plans, as well as a 12-week menopause program. Months ago, Wood launched Ollo for Women, a medical and physical weight-loss program targeting women in midlife.<\/p>\n When Wood eventually sold his fitness business to Bastas for a reported $71 million, the deal included retention of Wood as the face (and body) of the rapidly expanding enterprise.<\/p>\n The rise and fall over 10 years of Wood\u2019s online empire was extraordinary.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d had no social media following before (The Bachelor), and it just went bananas, you know, went from 20 followers to 250,000 in a number of weeks, and so did Snez,\u201d he told The Dom Harvey Podcast in April 2024.<\/p>\n After Wood launched the fitness platform in February 2016, 5000 people signed up in the first month, at $50 a month: \u201c$250,000 a month revenue, and it was me and a few tech guys in an office, and I was filming the videos in my gym,\u201d he said. \u201cBy the third month, we had 10,000. [It] just absolutely exploded.\u201d<\/p>\n Wood told Paul Spain on NZ Tech Podcast in February 2024 that the business eventually grew to more than 1 million subscribers globally, at the time of recording, with an influx of subscriptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, giving locked down Australians an at-home fitness option.<\/p>\n Bupa, one of Australia\u2019s biggest health insurers, noticed and offered their customers three months\u2019 access to Wood\u2019s online program for free.<\/p>\n The insurer expected an extra 10,000 sign-ups, but instead 130,000 joined in three days, Wood said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went from 30,000 to 160,000 almost overnight,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n After several offers to buy the platform, Bastas\u2019 DBG Health<\/a> stepped in, buying the operation\u2019s parent, Australian Life Tech. Wood clarified in the podcast that while he sold the business to Bastas for $71 million, he pocketed $15 million himself.<\/p>\n One former associate said Wood was \u201cruthlessly ambitious about building his brand\u201d, but was often reluctant to acknowledge or pay those who contributed to his ascent.<\/p>\n The dashing reality star engaged a retinue of publicists, personal trainers, marketers, brand managers and dieticians, who got virtually no recognition and sometimes spent months chasing him for payment.<\/p>\n Some were never paid for their services, while a few were forced to use lawyers to apply pressure. On one occasion, gym equipment was seized from his gym in East Brighton, The Woodshed, to recoup a debt.<\/p>\n His burgeoning profile created an expectation that local businesses would align their products with his brand, and pay for the privilege.<\/p>\n \u201cHe used commercial arrangements to build a perception of himself that wasn\u2019t real. It was all an illusion, and I\u2019m not even sure he realised how entitled he\u2019d become,\u201d said a former associate.<\/p>\n In 2016, Mazda agreed to provide Wood with a BT-50 utility \u2013 free of charge. But Wood considered the deal beneath him, and negotiated a separate arrangement with a Melbourne-based Mercedes dealership.<\/p>\n The same year, Wood and Snezana were guests of the Singapore Tourism Board, which fully funded their five-day visit. However, Wood complained bitterly about a quid pro quo expectation that he make a series of social media posts to promote the island nation.<\/p>\n![\"Snezana](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791549012_780_99610751769e8dea5de965a10b7e1bfdf820a638.jpeg\")
Snezana and Sam Wood in 2016.Hausmann Communications<\/p>\n![\"Dennis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/7709374b01278b54fb389175ff2f8b03b86b3dcb.jpeg\")
Dennis Bastas, chairman and CEO of DBG Health, bought Sam Wood\u2019s fitness business.AFR<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/27a36cc3610abb58f4a6183b4ff30bd2c1e16536.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Snezana](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/b5f26c6b91063afea5dbccc92aa3b420cd4f297d.jpeg\")
Snezana married Sam Wood in 2018 after they met on The Bachelor.GK Photography<\/p>\n