Arabella Del Busso made headlines with an anguished handwritten letter about her hellish life behind bars. Now furious prison chiefs reveal the TRUTH

Disgraced footballer WAG Arabella Del Busso has been called out for vastly exaggerating her account of her alleged hell in prison, with prison authorities publicly denying her disturbing claims about how she was treated behind bars.

The former reality TV star claimed in court documents that she was threatened with a knife by another prisoner, regularly robbed by inmates and subjected to multiple invasive strip searches by the part of the prison guards.

Del Busso also detailed various humiliations she was subjected to behind bars, including having to shower, change and go to the bathroom in front of other prisoners.

But Del Busso – who was previously caught for faking a pregnancy with ex-NRL star Josh Reynolds – appears to have exaggerated her account of prison life.

The governor of Australia’s largest women’s prison, Dillwynia Correctional Centre, read the Daily Mail Australia report and objected to Del Busso’s description of prison practices.

A Corrective Services NSW insider said Del Busso’s graphic description of having to “spread your buttocks” during a strip search was not true.

And while strip searches are conducted after inmate visits, they don’t go that far.

Del Busso had also claimed in court documents that she was threatened by an inmate with a prison-made knife or “shiv” and that she “got up” and had food stolen from her .

However, the prison has not received any reports or complaints regarding such activity.

In a strong denial released by the prison’s media unit, the prison also said Del Busso’s claims that she regularly had to shower or use the restroom in front of other inmates were false.

The statement said: “Correctional Services NSW regularly conducts searches on inmates to protect the safety and security of the prison community.

“There are strict protocols regarding strip searches and inmates are always searched by female correctional officers.

“The inmate’s claims that he showered in front of inmates are not factual. Dillwynia Correctional Center has individual shower stalls for inmates.

“Inmates do not use the toilet in the presence of anyone else, except during urine analysis, and those sharing a two-person cell may use the cell toilet after confinement in the evening.

“CSNSW has formal processes for inmates to raise concerns. The CSNSW will review the issues raised by the inmate.

The 34-year-old convicted thief spent three weeks at Silverwater Women’s Prison (above) before being transferred to Dillwynia where she claimed she was threatened with a prison-made knife.

Del Busso’s prison sentence for stealing $52,350 from his employer, a medical company, was reduced from 12 months to five months at a court hearing last week.

However, his application for immediate release under a corrections order to be served in the community was rejected by District Court Judge John Pickering.

Del Busso was working as a receptionist at Rheumotology Specialist Care, at its practices in Kogarah, in Sydney’s south, and Randwick, in the city’s east between 2019 and 2020 at the time of the crimes.

Court facts indicate Del Busso told his customers the EFTPOS machine was not working and asked them to pay in cash – then deposited the money into his own accounts.

In court, Judge Pickering rejected Del Busso’s claims that she had suffered “extracurial punishment” due to excessive media coverage of her case.

“Realistically, she pursued this approach,” Judge Pickering said. “She signed up for a reality show. She appeared on national television.

“No one forced her to join SAS.

“She participated in an interview with 60 Minutes, chose to appear on a reality show and courted public notoriety.”

His Honor also said the glowing character references also presented to his court presented “an unrealistic appearance on the part of people, indicating that they were so shocked by some aspects of his dishonesty in this matter”.

“There were also aspects of dishonesty in the Josh Reynolds affair.”

When Del Busso appeared on TV show SAS in 2020, she stunned viewers by attempting to downplay false pregnancies and miscarriages to the NRL player and calling his actions a “little white lie”.

The ex-footy WAG also described the humiliation of having to share a cell with another inmate with whom she must undress, shower and go to the toilet.

Del Busso told the show in an on-camera piece: “I lied but you know, the way I see it, a little lie here or there isn’t going to hurt anyone.

“I’m sure we all do. I’m not the only person in the whole of Australia who has lied here and there.

HIS LETTER FROM PRISON

In his handwritten letter to the court, Del Busso spoke of an alarming encounter with a fellow inmate.

She said: “I was…threatened to be stabbed with a surs” (sic). This is a reference to a “shiv”, prison slang for a prison-made knife or blade, made of metal or plastic.

She also called the weekly strip searches “traumatic.”

“The strip searches … were not only traumatic, but made me feel violated because I had to undress in front of two police officers,” Del Busso wrote.

“One stands in front of you and the other stands behind you, then you have to lift your bra and show your breasts.

“Next, pull your underwear down to your knees or remove them completely, bend over to spread your buttocks and lift one foot at a time.”

Arabella Del Busso stunned SAS Australia viewers when she described fake pregnancies to ex-NRL star Josh Reynolds (the couple together, above) as a “little white lie”.

She had spent three and a half weeks in the women’s prison, Silverwater Womens Correctional Centre, where she said she had a “very reliable role” as a sweeper.

But her comfortable life there ended with her transfer to Dillwynia – where she said she now felt “uncomfortable” performing private acts in front of other inmates.

“In such a confined space, not only did I feel uncomfortable having to shower, use the toilet and undress and dress in front of them,” she wrote.

Del Busso told a friend and a forensic psychologist that “inmates stole food from her” and that she was regularly “interposed for purchases (and) if she did not obey, she was threatened with violence.”

She said that since she was incarcerated eight weeks ago, she has endured the degrading reality of sharing a tiny cell with other criminals.

“It made me feel unsafe because since it is a high-profile status, inmates know or find out who I am.”