Kaz Crossley showed her grueling resilience when she represented Great Britain in the Paramount+ series The Challenge World Championships.
In an exclusive clip provided to MailOnline, the Love Island star, 27, teams up with Tristan Phipps, Zara Zoffany and Nathan Henry to complete the tough course to win $500,000.
The show is Kaz’s first television appearance since she was arrested on drug charges in the United Arab Emirates earlier this month and held in a Dubai prison.
In 2020, she was filmed in Dubai sniffing lines of white powder as hordes of influencers flocked there to escape Britain’s Covid-19 restrictions, claiming they were there for work.
Kaz broke her silence on her recent arrest in an Instagram video on Friday, explaining that the video was shot at a “time in her life when she absolutely did not love herself”.
EXCLUSIVE: Kaz Crossley showed her grueling resilience as she represented Britain on the first route for Paramount+ series The Challenge World Championships
The trailer shows the contestants preparing to complete the course, with Kaz overheard saying, “This is a very high level competition.”
In the franchise’s first-ever global tournament, each Global MVP will be paired with a Challenge Legend, a notable veteran from previous seasons of the MTV series, who will act as their partner to form the most epic teams in franchise history.
Together, they will work on the toughest challenge of all: the brutal $500,000 finale.
The UK leg will be moderated by Mark Wright who said: “The future is streaming sites, whether it’s Netflix, Prime or Paramount+, this is a big new streaming site and it’s a big milestone in my career to have a program.” platform .’
It comes after Kaz broke her silence after she was arrested in the United Arab Emirates on suspicion of drug-related offenses and held in a Dubai jail.
The reality star was arrested at Abu Dhabi airport as she boarded a flight to Thailand, where she said she would volunteer.
In 2020, she was filmed in Dubai sniffing lines of white powder as hordes of influencers flocked there to escape Britain’s Covid-19 restrictions, claiming they were there for work.
Kaz shared her “own truth” on Instagram: “Hi everyone. I wanted to make this video to speak my own truth and use my own voice about a situation that happened to me.
Difficult! In an exclusive clip provided to MailOnline, the Love Island star joins forces with Tristan Phipps, Zara Zoffany and Nathan Henry to win $500,000
Theater! Kaz will team up with a Challenge Legend to try and reach the epic finals and compete for $500,000
Speaking of which, this comes after Kaz broke her silence after she was arrested in the United Arab Emirates on suspicion of drug-related offenses and held in a Dubai jail.
“I feel like I owe it to my followers and myself to end this situation because it’s been a few years and now I’m ready to move on.”
She continued: “In 2020 I was in Dubai. I was filmed – it was me in the video, nobody forced me – it was a time in my life where I probably didn’t love myself at all. And you can see it in what I did to my body and who I surrounded myself with.”
‘[The video] was later leaked and recently I was on my way to Thailand,” Kaz continued.
“I was offered a great job. I was so excited about this job offer guys it was like my dream job and I stayed up all night doing research and yes I didn’t think about the transfer in Abu Dhabi and that it would be a problem for me, because of course I was thinking and… yes, everything happens for a reason.
“I was then arrested in Abu Dhabi and held from Monday to Friday and then they released me.
“I was very accepting of the situation and I was ready for anything that happened to me because at the end of the day I take full responsibility. I’m not lying. I said I was in the video and explained the situation, it was a long time ago, etc.
The former Love Island star explained that she had a lot of worried messages from her followers, mostly warning them about her friends in her circle.
However, Kaz clarified that the leaked video of her using a white substance was shot by an ex, not one of her friends.
Arrest: The British reality star, 27, was arrested at Abu Dhabi Airport as she boarded a flight to Thailand, where she said she was volunteering.
The star later took to Instagram Stories to clarify that the ex in question was not Love Island star Theo Campbell, who she dated from March 2019 to February 2020.
She wrote: “It wasn’t Theo! We are now friends and just did a show together please stop scolding him. It was a relationship I kept private. Thanks for all the love for my last video, love you all.”
Kaz’s agent announced her release on February 16, saying: “Kaz has fully cooperated with the authorities and is free to continue her journey.
Kaz passed through Abu Dhabi on her way to Thailand, where she was stopped and questioned by UAE police in connection with a case unrelated to her, but officers believed she could help with their investigation.
Kaz was arrested and a source claimed “her name clearly had a red flag” when her passport was checked in the UAE capital.
She was then transferred to a prison in Dubai, where she was reportedly denied a call to her family but was allowed to send a single email.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are in contact with local authorities following the arrest of a British national in the United Arab Emirates.”
Dubai recently liberalized its drug laws, with new offenders facing a minimum of three months in prison and a fine of between £4,559 and £22,799. In the past, offenders would have had to serve at least four years in prison for each drug use.
After serving a sentence, suspects are deported to their home countries – in Kaz’s case the UK – and are not allowed to return to the UAE. Penalties for drug trafficking can include the death penalty.
The Kaz case is a clear warning to expats. Experts told MailOnline last month that a record number of Britons could face jail in Dubai following a decision to lower alcohol prices to attract more tourists, including those from Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Human rights groups predict a culture war in the Islamic Gulf.
Dubai-based group Detained believes thousands of Britons have been arrested and hundreds jailed in recent years under the UAE’s tough and “highly inconsistent” laws.
Authorities in Dubai have not confirmed the reason for Kaz’s arrest, but about two years ago, the influencer was spotted wearing an orange minidress holding one nostril while sniffing white powder at a party in the city.
It is likely that her name was flagged when she tried to leave for Thailand, as UAE authorities are still investigating the old video.
Kaz shared her “own truth” on Instagram: “In 2020 I was in Dubai. I was filmed – it was me in the video, no one forced me – it was a time in my life that I probably didn’t didn’t love myself
Kaz, whose mother is Thai, posted her last Instagram post five days ago while taking a short trip to Dublin.
A source told The Sun: “She was looking forward to returning to Thailand where she was volunteering and suddenly she is languishing in a Dubai prison.
“Everyone knows how strict they are with drugs there. She must be scared. She was only stopping in Abu Dhabi to catch a connecting flight, but her name was clearly a red flag.
“She was only allowed to email and not even call.”
The Challenge World Championship kicks off Thursday, March 9 on Paramount+
Source: Daily Mail
Ashley Root is an author and celebrity journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for all things celebrity, Ashley is always up-to-date on the latest gossip and trends in the world of entertainment.