Byron Baes star Sarah st James has said that filming the Netflix show was “torture”, and that she turned to alcohol to get her through the long days of filming.

The reality show is largely centred around Sarah’s move from Queensland to Byron Bay in an effort to kick-start her career in music. However, she has since revealed that she found a lot of her cast mates “insanely judgmental” and battled with anxiety through filming.

“I like to deal with things head on and not being able to and losing that control was a catalyst for a lot of my anxiety,” she told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

“I had to suck it up. I was drinking far too much while filming. I think we shot for 12 weeks and 80 per cent of that time I was drinking too much.”
Sarah revealed that in one scene that she filmed with Alex Reid, she smuggled in alcohol and was drinking it from her bag.

“I remember doing one shoot where Alex and I were sat out the front for two hours … we couldn’t leave,” she said.

“I brought a bottle of gin and was drinking it from my bag … they ended up confiscating it off me.”

Sarah told the publication that her move back to Queensland has been positive, and she has no plans to return to Byron Bay or be involved in a second season of the show.

“I was like ‘okay, I need to get back to the gym. I need to get healthy and I need to have zero alcohol when I’m around filming and even when I’m not, just have a break from it’. That helped massively,” she said.

Love Entertainment?

Get the latest Entertainment news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox.

“It doesn’t make a lot of sense to go back to Byron. I’m happy being on the Gold Coast.” she added.

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine