{"id":947131,"date":"2026-10-31T03:30:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T03:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/947131\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T03:30:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T03:30:23","slug":"former-bachelor-sam-wood-will-spend-at-least-another-six-months-behind-bars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/947131\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Bachelor Sam Wood will spend at least another six months behind bars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former reality TV contestant Sam James Wood is set to spend at least another six months behind bars in south-east Queensland, after his second failed bail bid.<\/p>\n

The 46-year-old is expected to face trial sometime between mid-2027 and the first quarter of 2028, the Queensland Supreme Court heard on Friday.<\/p>\n

Mr Wood is facing assault occasioning bodily harm and strangulation charges relating to offending alleged to have occurred on October 3 at Noosa, during a family holiday with his wife and stepdaughter.<\/p>\n

As of Saturday morning, the former Bachelor has spent 28 nights in custody.<\/p>\n

Family and domestic violence support services:<\/p>\n

If you need help immediately, call emergency services on Triple Zero.<\/p>\n

‘Extremely serious’ allegations<\/p>\n

Yesterday Justice Peter McCafferty denied Mr Wood’s bail application in Brisbane,<\/a> citing he had not been convinced the risk of the 46-year-old committing further offending, interfering with witnesses or being a risk to the safety and wellbeing of others had been reduced enough to grant his release.<\/p>\n

He described the accusations aimed at the former Bachelor as “extremely serious”, though stressed they remained allegations until being tested at trial.<\/p>\n

Arguments for when that would likely be were heard in court on Friday, with Crown prosecutor Jessica Guy estimating a trial could be listed as soon as May next year, through to sometime in August.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Sam and Snezana Wood met on reality dating show The Bachelor in 2015 and married in 2018. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

However, Mr Wood’s defence lawyer Paula Morreau said that was “unrealistic”, with a timeframe between mid-2027 and the first quarter of 2028 more likely.<\/p>\n

In handing down his decision, Justice McCafferty told the court the case against Mr Wood was “not a weak one”, and would likely rely on the written statements and recorded police interviews with Snezana Wood and her daughter.<\/p>\n

The Crown said it would also aim to have photographs Snezana Wood took following a previous alleged incident of strangulation in Victoria five years ago admitted at trial, though Mr Wood’s barrister is expected to argue those images be ruled inadmissible.<\/p>\n

New strangulation definition in Queensland<\/p>\n

Yesterday, the length of time Mr Wood could spend in prison on remand was put forward as a factor for why he should be released on bail.<\/p>\n

Ms Morreau stated the timeframe would likely be more than any eventual sentence Mr Wood would receive if later convicted.<\/p>\n

The court heard both the defence and prosecutors agreed the maximum\u00a0head sentence he would likely\u00a0receive would be about\u00a0two years in custody, with parole eligibility after 12 months.<\/p>\n

However, in handing down his decision, and ultimately denying Mr Wood’s bail application, Justice McCafferty pointed to Queensland’s “new strangulation offence”, which he said had a “significant penalty attached”.<\/p>\n

He told the court each charge Mr Wood was facing carried a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, earlier this week, the Queensland opposition introduced a private members’ bill seeking to establish an aggravated offence for strangulation cases, which would increase the maximum to 14 years, while non-strangulation cases would be seven years.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Defence barrister Paula Morreau represented Sam Wood at a bail application hearing on Friday. (ABC News: Sharon Gordon)<\/p>\n

The hearing on Friday heard further details of the alleged domestic violence offence, including that Mr Wood told his wife and stepdaughter they “can both die”.<\/p>\n

It is alleged Mr Wood pushed his wife into a door, wall and floor, and strangled her to the point she could not breathe or yell for help.<\/p>\n

Snezana Wood’s daughter allegedly heard her mother gasping for air, as well as “striking and bumping” into walls, before dialling Triple Zero (000).<\/p>\n

Mr Wood has previously denied the allegations.<\/p>\n

Housed at high-security prison<\/p>\n

Mr Wood is at Wolston Correctional Centre, a high-security prison in Wacol in Brisbane’s west.<\/p>\n

He is there under a safety order, with alleged offenders with high profiles or other reasons that could make them targets often sent to the facility.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Sam Wood found fame on reality television show The Bachelor in 2015. (Supplied: The Bachelor Australia, Facebook)<\/p>\n

On Friday, the court was told Mr Wood was born in Tasmania before moving to Victoria in 2000.<\/p>\n

He spent 20 years running a fitness business before selling it and working for the company that acquired it, until earlier this month.<\/p>\n

In his bail application on Friday, Mr Wood proposed he could be released to live at his father’s property in Tasmania, with his siblings also nearby.<\/p>\n

That was denied.<\/p>\n

The legal options remaining for Mr Wood to further fight his bail application outcomes are limited.<\/p>\n

The only way he could apply for bail again is if his lawyers can demonstrate there is a material change of circumstances.<\/p>\n

He could also lodge an application to challenge Friday’s decision in the Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n

Business rebrand<\/p>\n

The whole fitness program linked to Mr Wood has been rebranded in a flurry of new trademark registrations since mid-last week, following his arrest for alleged domestic violence offences.<\/p>\n

The 28 by Sam Wood program was relaunched this week under the brand Evvr. “Welcome to our new chapter,” the business said in an Instagram launch.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Sam Wood was a personal trainer before becoming a reality television and social media personality.\u00a0 (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Previously known as 28 by Sam Wood program, companies linked to the business’s ultimate owner, Victoria-based DBG Global Enterprises, on October 21 filed the paperwork for the new brand Evvr, according to trademark register searches.<\/p>\n

The new name was accepted on Thursday by IP Australia for areas including conducting fitness classes, but it is yet to be officially registered.<\/p>\n

DBG had cut commercial arrangements with Mr Wood in October, severing an arrangement started in 2022 in a $71 million deal for the former Bachelor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former reality TV contestant Sam James Wood is set to spend at least another six months behind bars…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":947132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[484012,64,63,514476,39043,134,329026,94,367914,194249,427],"class_list":["post-947131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-28-by-sam-wood","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business-rebrand","tag-domestic-violence","tag-entertainment","tag-fitness-program","tag-qld","tag-sam-wood","tag-strangulation","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=947131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/947132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=947131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=947131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=947131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}