Contender, ready! Gladiator, ready! Gladiators was a staple of Saturday night nineties television and is currently drawing massive viewing figures after being rebooted by the BBC, a show where everyday heroes are pitted against the super-human.
This month, Zingo Bingo sits down with Gladiators UK OG Diane Youdale AKA Jet. Jet was one of the most popular contestants on the hit reality show, joining the show at 22-years-old and appearing from the first season to season four.
In its pomp, Gladiators was the biggest television show in the UK, drawing in 14 million viewers an episode.
Why did you want to be a Gladiator?
I was asked all those years ago to audition for this new show. I had no idea what it was about other than it was called Gladiators. I'd seen the American show, which I absolutely adored. It looked like so much fun!
I thought to myself, ‘this could be a really interesting show to take part in.’ I can remember when I received the answer phone message from Andy Norgate, who was putting the UK version of the show together and has been involved in every British Gladiators series including the one on the BBC currently.
He invited me to audition for the show and before I knew it, I was down doing a trial at Woolwich Barracks.
What were the trials like to get on the show?
The trials were tough! They put us through our paces in the gym and then, off the back of that, we all went through an army assault course.
My background was in dance and choreography, but when I was a kid I was a GB gymnast (Diane was a GB elite gymnast champion until the age of 14), so it was something different for me, but it also was quite familiar. I could do all the tumbles and rolls over the assault course because of my training, and the producers liked the look of that.
I got a tap on my shoulder at the end of the trial by a guy called Kenny Warwick, who was our executive producer. And all he said was, “I hope you're free during summer.” And that was the beginning of it.
I was so shocked and surprised that they picked me. I wasn’t big like the Gladiators that I had seen on the American version of the show, but the British version wanted their Gladiators to have more of a fitness figure rather than being absolutely built!
How did you get your nickname Jet?
When the producers told me I was going to be called Jet, I was taken aback at first. I thought to myself, my hair isn’t that dark. But they said they wanted me as Jet because of my speed! I was one of the quickest Gladiators.
Were you ready for Gladiators when you landed the role?
I had done a lot of theatre, film, and TV before Glads, but nothing on the same scale. In many ways, I don’t think us Glads knew what we were letting ourselves in for. The popularity of the show was incredible.
I’d always been a performer. I was an elite gymnast as a youngster and then worked in the worlds of dance and choreography. I'd kept my physical skills really high, so a lot of castings would come up.
I did the TV show She Wolf of London. I did all my own stunts in that, which was just the best fun. And it taught me a lot of TV and film discipline.
How did Gladiators change your life?
You suddenly start appearing in everybody's living room and you're famous! It was pretty nuts just how popular the show was. The scale of it and its popularity was something I don’t think any of were prepared for.
Why do you think Gladiators was so popular?
It had something for everyone. It was the kind of show that would unite families, and you must remember that there weren’t as many distractions as there are now.
I think ultimately the show was so successful because it was real, honest and every week you knew you were going to see something brilliant. There were lots of big characters, the contenders were amazing. And of course, the events were spectacular too. It promoted health and fitness and inspired people.
What do you think of the new version of the show?
I think its extraordinary. They have taken the best elements of everything that we did, and then some. The gladiators are not only beautiful, but they are so, so fit. They are serious athletes.
When the new version came back in 2024, I can remember that I was asked what advice I would give the new Gladiators. I told them that not only did they have to look good, but they also had to be good, and what I mean by that it, be in the best condition physically – they’ve more than measured up to the challenge!
I actually think that these Gladiators are the best versions of Gladiators that the show has ever had. They are so hard to beat. You can tell I’m a big fan.
