Yahoo News Gladiators star Sharron Davies says she didn't have enough time to practice
Sharron Davies reveals they had plenty of time with the makeup team
Gladiators star Amazon - whose real name is Sharron Davies - has claimed she didn't have enough time to practice on the equipment, especially when it came to one of the more difficult challenges the Tilt.
One of the stars on the original, Davies also made her name as a competitive swimmer in the showbiz world. The sports star arguably went onto be one of the most famous gladiators from the show. Davies represented Great Britain in the Olympics and European Championships, as well as representing England in the Commonwealth Games.
As Gladiators has returned to our screens, take a look at where the original gladiators are now. Some of the original stars have been speaking about their experiences on the show including Jet who said she refused to film 'uncomfortable' scenes.
Now Olympics star Davies, who starred in the fourth series of Gladiators as Amazon, has been reflecting on her time on the show and she said she wasn't given enough time to train with the equipment for the Tilt. She claimed TV bosses at the time made sure they had "plenty of time" with the make-up teams.
"They were more interested in making sure we had plenty of time for make-up and less time to practise on the games," Davies told The Sun. "We didn’t get enough time to practise on the equipment because there just wasn’t the time to get to the pieces in and out and to be able to do what I felt I needed to - practice on a particular piece of equipment."
Davies remembered how she was doing one of the challenges for the first time live on TV. As an athlete, she explained why this was "really strange" in her opinion. She added: "I remember doing Tilt, which is a game where the actual Gladiator starts at a disadvantage facing forward. The first time I did that was live on TV, which is a really strange thing considering when you have an athletic background, which is all about training and preparation, you aim to be the best you can be."
The swimmer had a starring role as a gladiator in 1995 but she had no choice to pull out when she suffered a knee injury a year later. Ahead of the reboot in August 2022, Davies spoke about how the show would look different now.
She told BBC Breakfast at the time: "The only thing I think is going to be really testing is health and safety. I think going forward that’s the thing which will be so very different from way back then." She was joined on BBC Breakfast by her fellow original gladiator Lightning, whose real name is Kim Betts.
Betts agreed with her saying: "When we first started, things like the 6ft free-fall we used to do without a harness, just fall on to a crash mat. Brilliant if you’re not scared of heights and are aware of rotational falls, but as health and safety came on throughout the years you’ve then got to be attached to a harness.
"It takes away that element of fear and excitement for the viewers back home. I know some people got seriously injured on that… so I completely understand it. But when you’re trying to invent an exciting, thrilling game and then health and safety step in, which they did on numerous events, it all has to be changed."
