I’m a Celebrity Australia: Bali Nine’s Renae Lawrence hints she’s joining the cast

Bali Nine heroin mule Renae Lawrence has sensationally hinted she could be making an appearance on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! next year.

Lawrence, 43, told New Idea she was ‘open’ to the idea of joining the cast, after fellow drug trafficker Schapelle Corby made her reality TV debut on SAS Australia earlier this month.

‘If I was going to do any reality show – and I don’t even think I would – it would most likely be I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!’ she said.

Will she do it? Bali Nine heroin mule Renae Lawrence has sensationally hinted she could be making an appearance on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! next year. Pictured in a holding cell during her trial at Denpasar Court on October 21, 2005

Lawrence, who served most of her time at Bali’s Kerobokan Prison in the same cell block as Corby, added: ‘I do not class myself as a celebrity in any way, but I feel it’s the only one really that isn’t scripted that I know of.’

The former panel beater from Newcastle happens to be a big fan of the show – which is hosted by Dr Chris Brown and Julia Morris – and especially enjoyed when ‘Rhonda Burchmore was doing it’ earlier this year.

When asked about the gruelling Tucker Trials, which contestants must beat in order to win meals for the camp, Lawrence admitted she’d most likely struggle with them.

Anything you can do, I can do better! Lawrence, 43, told New Idea she was 'open' to the idea of joining the cast, after fellow drug trafficker Schapelle Corby (pictured) made her reality TV debut on SAS Australia earlier this month

Anything you can do, I can do better! Lawrence, 43, told New Idea she was ‘open’ to the idea of joining the cast, after fellow drug trafficker Schapelle Corby (pictured) made her reality TV debut on SAS Australia earlier this month

‘My weakness would be putting my hands or feet into a box or something that I don’t know what is actually in there,’ she said, adding that she wouldn’t be particularly adept at the physical challenges either.

To make matters worse, Lawrence said, she has a fear of spiders, snakes and ants – which isn’t ideal when slumming it in bushland with basic provisions.

Lawrence was convicted in 2006 alongside eight other Australians of attempting to bring 8.3kg of heroin from Bali to Sydney in a botched smuggling plot the previous year.

She was the only member of the syndicate to be shown any mercy by the court. She was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment and was released and deported on November 21, 2018, after serving 13 years.

Her co-conspirators – three of whom were teenagers when the crime was committed – were either sentenced to life without parole or death by firing squad.

Ringleaders Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan were executed in April 2015, despite having rehabilitated themselves during their 10 years behind bars.

Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, who was described at his trial as the ‘financer’ of the operation, died of stomach cancer Jakarta hospital on May 9.

The other members – Scott Rush, Michael Czugaj, Si Yi Chen, Martin Stephens and Matthew Norman – are all serving life sentences in Indonesia.

Earlier this year, Lawrence pleaded for the remaining five prisoners to have their sentences reduced.

She said staying locked up was ‘like a death sentence’ for the so-called Bali Five.

‘We all did something stupid, we all regret it, but everybody deserves a second chance,’ Lawrence said in February.

‘If this doesn’t happen, they have got no hope, they’ll lose hope and the end will be devastating.’

Lawrence served out her sentence at Bali’s notorious Kerobokan Prison and, later, Bangli Prison, after requesting a transfer.

While doing time at Kerobokan – known in Australia as ‘Hotel K’ – she lived in the women’s cell block with Schapelle Corby, but the two women were not friends.

In May 2005, just a month after the Bali Nine arrests, Corby was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 20 years behind bars.

She had been caught with 4.2kg of cannabis in her boogie board bag at Bali airport in October the previous year. 

Corby has always maintained her innocence, insisting the drugs were planted without her knowledge – presumably by corrupt airport baggage handlers.

She was released on parole in 2014 after serving nine years in prison, and was deported back to Australia in 2017.

SAS Australia marks her first appearance on reality TV.

The question of whether she was paid by Channel Seven could become a legal issue due to the Proceeds of Crime Act, which prevents criminals from cashing in on their misdeeds. 

The network has declined to confirm whether it paid Corby for her appearance.