Outback Wrangler Matt Wright has revealed he was diagnosed with testicular cancer during the trial that ended with him being thrown into jail.
The allegations against Wright, 46, were linked to his conduct following a February 2022 helicopter crash that killed his co-star and friend, Chris ‘Willow’ Wilson.
Pilot Sebastian Robinson was left paralysed.
On Friday, Wright was ordered to 10 months in jail, suspended after five months, after a jury convicted him on two counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
But the father-of-two – with a third on the way – revealed the harrowing cancer diagnosis he had been battling behind the scenes earlier this year.
‘I got one of my nuts ripped out with testicle cancer last year and compared to everything else going on that was just a blip,’ Wright told news.com.au.
‘I got it checked and within three or four days I was in Sydney getting one of my plums pulled out, that was it. Then back on with it and away we go.
‘But this ordeal of this tear down that’s happened over the last three years of not just myself, my family, my friends, that’s been so much worse, it’s been absolutely outrageous and ridiculous in its own entirety.’
Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright (pictured with wife Kaia) strugged with testicular cancer during a trial that saw him sentenced to jail for perverting the course of justice
Matt Wright and wife Kaia are seen arriving at Darwin Supreme Court in August
He was taken to court facing two charges over a tragic helicopter crash in 2022 that killed Wright’s best mate Chris ‘Willow’ Wilson (pictured) who was collecting crocodile eggs
Wright also opened up about the ‘relentless’ threats his family, particularly his wife Kaia, have endured in response to the accident and subsequent trial.
He said their power had been cut, the power box blown up, their signs torn down, their businesses graffitied, their chains cut and people shooting at their properties.
‘And then you’ve got Kaia at home not feeling safe because some fruit loops out there with death threats to Kaia and the kids,’ he said.
Kaia has also opened up about the grief her family experienced from the accident, and later the impact of the legal battle and backlash.
‘It’s not nice if you post a birthday video of your child or something, and then, there’s comments like ‘enjoy the last minutes before he’s in jail, just horrible stuff’,’ she said.
She said her family had suffered financially following the fatal helicopter crash.
‘He was an ambassador for Tourism Australia and as soon as he was charged, everyone dropped him, his sponsors and everyone dropped him overnight,’ she said.
Daily Mail has contacted Wright via his legal team for comment.
Matt and Kaia Wright pictured with six-year-old Banjo and Dusty who is three
The prosecution did not allege Wright caused the chopper crash, the death of Mr Wilson or Mr Robinson’s injuries during the trial
The tragedy in 2022 happened during a crocodile-egg collecting trip in Arnhem Land while Mr Wilson was slung on a line below a chopper to drop onto nests in remote swampland.
Wright was accused of lying to crash investigators about the fuel level, of trying to get Mr Robinson to falsify flying hours and of asking a friend to ‘torch’ the helicopter’s maintenance release.
On August 29, a jury found Wright guilty on the first two counts but could not reach agreement on the third torching accusation.
Prosecutors alleged Wright was worried investigators would learn his choppers’ flying-hour meters were regularly disconnected to extend hours beyond official thresholds, with paperwork falsified to match.
The prosecution did not allege Wright caused the chopper crash, the death of Mr Wilson or Mr Robinson’s injuries.
It was highly likely the helicopter that crashed should not have been flying after exceeding its maximum flight time of 2,200 hours, at which it should have been retired or undergone a costly overhaul, Justice Blow said.
‘It is clear you had reason to fear that a thorough investigation might reveal that the 2,200-hour limit had been exceeded,’ he said.
Kaia has also opened up about the grief her family experienced from the accident, and later the impact of the legal battle and backlash (she is pictured with her husband and children)
Wright was ordered to 10 months’ imprisonment, suspended after five months, on Friday
Justice Blow said Wright lied to police about there still being fuel in the crashed chopper but accepted it was a spontaneous bid to avoid charges being laid to protect himself and his friend Mr Robinson.
The more serious charge was a pre-planned bid to get Mr Robinson to falsify flying hour records by putting hours from the crashed chopper onto the pilot’s own machine.
‘That was a serious attempt to pervert the course of justice’, the judge said.
‘It’s significant that you had the callousness to make and pursue this request when Mr Robinson had recently come out of a coma and had just learned that he was unlikely ever to walk again.’
Seven character references were provided to the court in support of Wright from his friends and colleagues – including country singer Lee Kernaghan – urging the judge to be lenient.
These letters described Wright as a man of ‘exemplary good character’, a dedicated father, and someone who had made ‘an extraordinary contribution to the Northern Territory’ through tourism enterprises.
Multiple referees stressed that the offending was ‘out of character’ and that Wright had suffered reputational and financial harm as a result of the prolonged proceedings.
Ultimately Justice Blow sentenced Wright to prison and ordered he pay a $5,000 fine on the charge of lying to police.
He can expect to be freed in May next year but may be pinning his hopes on an appeal against his two guilty verdicts.