Queensland Police say officers went to a Hastings Street address, on Noosa’s beachfront, at about 9 pm on Saturday after reports of alleged domestic violence. In the early hours of Sunday, 4th of October, they charged a 46-year-old Victorian man with assault occasioning bodily harm (domestic violence) and strangulation in a domestic setting. A source with knowledge of the matter, not authorised to speak publicly, told The Age the man was Sam Wood, the Melbourne fitness entrepreneur who was The Bachelor in 2015.
Now on Monday morning a statement attributed to the Wood family went up on Wood’s Instagram and on his wife Snezana Wood’s:
“This is a difficult time for all of us; we are working through this as a family and are cooperating with authorities,” it read. A version shared elsewhere said the family was “thoroughly co-operating.” It is the couple’s first public comment since the arrest. It does not describe the allegation or identify a complainant. Family and business contacts approached by reporters had not gone further.
The 46-year-old Victorian appeared in the Maroochydore Magistrates Court this morning, by video link from the local police watch house. He has been remanded in custody and is due to return to the court on Thursday afternoon.
Wood was a Melbourne personal trainer when Network Ten cast him as The Bachelor in 2015. In the finale, he chose Snezana Markoski, a single mother from Perth, over runner-up Lana Jeavons-Fellows, and told her he had fallen in love with her and was ready to be a father figure to her daughter, Eve. The couple moved her and Eve to Melbourne, married in Byron Bay in 2018, and have three more daughters: Willow, born in 2017; Charlie, in 2019; and Harper, in 2022.
For a decade, the family has been the public face of the show’s rare lasting match, posted constantly, used in brand work, and treated by the magazines as the bachelor couple who actually stayed.
The business followed the wedding. In 2016 he launched 28 by Sam Wood, a 28-day fitness and nutrition program sold as an app and a subscription. It became one of the decade’s bigger Australian online training brands. In 2022, he sold it to genomics group myDNA for a reported $71 million. He stayed on as the face. Earlier this year he launched Ollo for Women; a second brand aimed at the same audience. This developing case puts a big risk on the future of these businesses.
His charges carry a maximum sentence of seven years in Queensland if convicted.
Anyone affected by domestic violence can contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
Men worried about their own behaviour can call the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491. Lifeline is 13 11 14. Kids Helpline is 1800 55 1800.
