Yahoo News Where are the original Gladiators now?
The show made huge stars of its cast members
Gladiators is returning to TV and will likely make stars of its new cast members.
The original show aired from 1992 to 2000, but more than 20 years later fans still have fond memories of the likes of Cobra and Jet and their epic challenges. Now bosses are introducing a new crop of "superhumans who will compete against contestants in the ultimate test of speed and strength".
The series gets under way at the weekend (13 January), with new hosts Bradley Walsh and his son Barney taking over from Ulrika Jonsson and John Fashanu. But as it is to start, we check in to see what some of the show’s best-loved stars are up to these days.
Lightning (Kim Betts)
Betts was on the show for its entire original run, and was known as Lightning. After it ended, she moved into the world of bodybuilding and has enjoyed massive success, even becoming Miss Universe three times.
Now 52, the TV star lives on a farm with her husband, who she shares daughter Skye and son Lexus with. Betts is also the director of 2B Lightning Fit, which helps people achieve their training goals. She has a hefty 18,000-plus following on Instagram where she regularly gives fans a peek at her workouts.
Cobra (Michael Willson)
Willson was on Gladiators from series one to eight and has made it clear what a blast he had – even confessing that he was sometimes drunk on the show. When his days in the arena ended, he became a motivational speaker and spent times visiting schools and promoting fitness.
The 60-year-old, who has settled down in Kent, has battled health problems over the years and he has admitted that his often tough workouts have taken their toll. In 2018 he told the BBC: “I need new hips. I've bolts in this shoulder, bolts in that shoulder. I've torn my bicep. I've torn the bicep on this side. I've got arthritis up and down the spine. But it's just like a car, if you do too much. You do too many miles and your parts wear out."
Jet (Diane Youdale)
Youdale was a fan favourite as Jet, after joining the show at the age of 22. She stayed on the programme for several years but left in 1996 after coming close to breaking her neck in a fall. After she left she had a real career change, and is now a trained psychotherapist.
Last year the TV star wed a woman she’d met in the supermarket. Youdale said Zoe approached her while she was out shopping and they ended up falling for each other.
Opening on the Chillin’ With Ice podcast, the star said she had previously experienced domestic abuse and that for a while she had been put off relationships. But then in 2022 she met her now wife. “We are what we are and it doesn’t matter,” she said. “And I don’t give a damn.” “I’m safe and I’m loved and there is no threat to me any more and that’s what means the world to me,” she went on.
Hunter (James Crossley)
James Crossley – aka Hunter – was one of the Gladiators who returned when the show was briefly rebooted in 2008. He has also racked up TV appearances in other programmes such as The Circle and has worked as a stage actor.
Crossley hasn’t let go of his fitness either and unveiled a workout DVD aimed at over 40s a few years back. And in 2018, at the age of 45, he broke the world record for lifting the famous Dinnie Stones in Potarch, Aberdeenshire.
He is also a professional percussionist and is into sound healing, and is now a gong practitioner.
Nightshade (Judy Simpson)
Heptathlete Judy Simpson had an army of fans when she starred as Nightshade from 1993 to 1996, and had a reputation for being tough to beat. Like so many of her co-stars, she stayed in the fitness realm after the show ended up and was an Honorary President of the Women’s Sports Federation.
She went on to marry an athletics coach but tragedy truck in 1999 when the couple lost their baby girl to meningitis.
Wolf (Michael Van Wijk)
Van Wijk ran a gym in the 90s when he starred on Gladiators. And when the show ended he moved to New Zealand and opened a string of gyms there.
He is still into sports, and has competed as a cage fighter and in Ju Jitsu. And just this week he claimed he could beat the new Gladiators on the rebooted series.
Asked about it, the Press Association quoted him as saying: “Absolutely, 100 per cent. I wouldn’t even worry about it.” He also said it was a “shame” that he wasn’t going to be involved with the resurrected show.
Panther (Helen O’Reilly)
O’Reilly made her name as Panther, where she took on some of the toughest physical events from series one to five. After bowing out she opened her own fashion shop in Surrey with fellow Gladiators Saracen and Vogue. She also has a gym named after her TV character.
The star previously said on a Gladiators fan site that she looks very different these days. “I think I’ve changed quite a lot… most people don’t recognise me… age, hair, colour change and of course I don’t wear the trademark Panther Lycra anymore!” she was quoted as saying.
Read more: Gladiators
Watch: Original Gladiators star Wolf, 71, says he could ‘100%’ beat cast of new reboot
