Erin McNaught reveals what REALLY happened during Nick ‘Honey Badger’ Cummins and Sabrina Frederick’s brutal fight on SAS Australia
Erin McNaught has revealed what actually went down during Nick ‘The Honey Badger’ Cummins’ boxing match with Sabrina Frederick on SAS Australia.
Last week, viewers were left shocked after witnessing the brutal fight between the former Bachelor, 33, and the AFLW star, 23, with many insisting Nick shouldn’t have hit a woman even though he was acting under orders from the directing staff.
But on Monday, model Erin, who is also a contestant on Seven’s military-style reality show, defended Nick and said he was actually ‘really hesitant to hit Sabrina initially’.
Eyewitness account: Erin McNaught (pictured) has revealed what actually went down during Nick ‘The Honey Badger’ Cummins’ boxing match with Sabrina Frederick on SAS Australia
‘What they didn’t show is that Nick was actually really hesitant to hit Sabrina initially. The directing staff were just shouting at him, “Hit her! Hit her!” And then she’s gone in for him,’ she told News.com.au.
She continued: ‘It actually really upsets me when people are targeting Nick about this because we did what we had to do.’
‘If we didn’t do what we were told to do, we’d get kicked off. It’s as simple as that.’
Erin’s account conflicts with what was shown on TV, as the episode was edited to make it look like Nick didn’t hesitate at all to strike Sabrina.
‘The directing staff were shouting at him’: Erin, who is also a contestant on Seven’s military-style show, defended Nick (right) and said he was actually ‘really hesitant to hit Sabrina’ (left)
During last week’s season premiere of SAS Australia, Sabrina stunned audiences when she selected Nick to fight against her in a boxing match.
Despite his initial hesitation, former international rugby union player Nick didn’t hold anything back as they went fist-to-fist, punching his opponent ferociously.
The scene attracted a flood of online backlash from viewers who believed Nick shouldn’t have hit the sportswoman.
SAS Australia’s Roxy Jacenko has also publicly condemned the fight, telling The Kyle And Jackie O Show last Tuesday: ‘The Honey Badger had a choice. Should he have hit her back? Absolutely not.
‘Should he have hit her back? Absolutely not’: During last week’s season premiere of SAS Australia, Sabrina stunned audiences when she selected Nick to fight against her in a boxing match and Roxy Jacenko (pictured) has publicly condemned the fight
Meanwhile, Sabrina has described her matchup with Nick in a far more positive light, calling it an ‘experience she will never forget’.
She explained in an Instagram post last Monday: ‘My whole life I have been fighting for equality. For people to treat all as equal, regardless of gender or race and that task was an opportunity for exactly that.
‘I volunteered and picked @nickbadger for two reasons. 1) I wanted to select the person I thought was the biggest challenge and 2) I knew our respect was mutual and he would give me a fair fight regardless of my gender.
‘I am truly grateful for him and that experience,’ she wrote, ‘Yes, I was scared, but that’s the whole point of SAS not letting the fear consume you, instead harnessing it to empower you.’
SAS Australia continues Monday at 7.30pm on Channel Seven.
Equal: On Monday, Sabrina addressed her matchup with Nick, calling it ‘an experience I will never forget’. She explained: ‘My whole life I have been fighting for equality. For people to treat all as equal, regardless of gender or race and that task was an opportunity for exactly that’