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'GLADIATORS'
My Story
"You could
do that mum!" ... So I did...
3 times!
It was a typical
Saturday evening and 'Gladiators'
was on the television. I was in
the kitchen washing up when suddenly
one of my boys shouted out.
"You could do that mum!"
I stopped washing up and walked
into the lounge. I thought about
it for a moment, and then, a little
flippantly, replied,
"Yes I suppose I could."
"Well then, why don't you apply?"
said Paul, my eldest, who was
14 at the time. My other son Darryl,
who was 10, nodded enthusiastically
in agreement at his brother's
suggestion.
On seeing their gleeful little
faces, I said; "OK, I will" …so
I did!
I had always loved sports at school,
especially springboard diving
and gymnastics. After my second
son was born, I decided to take
up weight training to get my figure
back. Before I knew it, I was
entering local bodybuilding competitions
- and winning!
The boys were very proud of their
somewhat 'unconventional' mum!
I wrote off to 'Gladiators' and
I soon got a date for my fitness
trial in London. These trials
were held all around the country.
Thousands entered hoping for the
chance to be picked for the popular
TV series. I was up against sports
people, a lot younger than myself,
(I was 31 at the time - almost
a veteran!)
However, to my delight, I received
a letter from Nigel Lythgoe, asking
me if I would take part in the
'Gladiators' "Live Event" at Wembley
Indoor Arena in March 1993. Of
course I 'gladly' agreed (excuse
the pun!)
The
live shows, which were actually
'stand alone' competitions without
heats, were held for the UK
'Gladiators' at Wembley Arena
(1993, 1994, 1996), Sheffield
Arena (1995) and the Royal Tournament
in London (1997, 1998). The
tickets to these events were
not free (about £16 each), but
proved extremely popular nonetheless
especially with the fans that
couldn't get to see the TV shows
filmed at the National Indoor
Arena in Birmingham - Incidentally,
the tickets for these shows
were free!
These shows provided a means
of generating cash to fund the
television series. They also
served as a useful 'proving
ground' for the Producers of
the series to test out new games
and 'Gladiators', as well as
to 'single out' potential contenders
for the forthcoming TV series
- in particular, those who showed
they had a certain amount of
confidence and personality in
front of an audience. Therefore,
winning one of these live shows,
did not automatically qualify
you for the TV series.
Also, in the live shows, the
introductions and games were
all staged in the proper running
order. Whereas the TV shows
were always filmed in a disjointed
manner for convenience, for
example sometimes they would
film event 4 even before the
opening interviews! This was
because of the amount of time
it took to set up some of the
equipment.
The day of
the contest soon came around.
Wembley was packed with spectators
and the press were there.
It was a massive set up. The equipment
for the show was huge and took
quite a bit of setting up between
events. It was great to see the
'Gladiators' in the flesh, let
alone do battle with them!
It was quite tough - The 'Glads'
had their own coach and they'd
also had a lot of practice on
the equipment in the weeks running
up to the show, so they knew all
the best techniques to use. Whereas,
we the contestants, were only
allowed one or two goes on the
game apparatus a couple of days
before the contest - but hey!..That's
show business for you!
'The Eliminator' was a huge construction,
consisting of many different pieces
of apparatus that almost filled
the entire Wembley roof space.
This took a long time to set up
so I had to wait for ages before
I could finally compete in this
last and most important event.
It was quite late in the evening
and by that time, I was pretty
tired and my muscles had started
to seize up due to the battering
they'd received earlier that day!
However, what was even more
worrying, was the fact that, at
that point in the contest, I was
12 points
behind my opponent, which meant
she had a 6 second head start!
My heart was pounding as I watched
her go "on my first
whistle".
The six seconds seemed like an
eternity. Then finally, the second
whistle blew - and I was off!
- In hot pursuit! - Over and under
the roller beams, up the rope,
across the hand ladder, over the
rotating poles - I was gaining
on her!
She leaped onto the cargo net.
My muscles were burning, but the
adrenalin and the will to win
kept me focused on her. I had
to win this for my two boys, or
they would never forgive me!
As we both struggled up the cargo
net, we were suddenly neck and
neck. Then, as I reached the top
of the net, I heaved myself up
onto the platform and gained the
lead! This was my chance! I raced
to the 'Zipline' and launched
myself off the high platform,
into mid air and down to the ground
below.
The beam was next. Oh no, that
beam!
Tired and somewhat disoriented,
I began my ascent up the diagonal
part of the 'Balance Beam' - which
was only a few inches wide. I
got three quarters of the way
across it when disaster struck!
- I slipped, cracking my ribs
on the end of the beam as I fell
to the floor!
The whole audience gasped and
went deadly silent as they watched
to see what would happen next.
But all I could think about was
getting up that 'Travelator'!
- so I picked myself up and took
a run at it. There were a couple
of 'Gladiators' standing at the
top cheering me on so I focussed
on them.
I gave it everything I had! -
It's extremely hard trying to
run uphill
on a sloping ramp that is 'travelling'
at speed, in the opposite,
downhill
direction!
'The Travelator' was well known
for 'finishing off' contestants,
and many have failed at this last
hurdle.
The next moment my dream came
true...
I could hardly believe it! - I
suddenly found myself on top of
the final platform.
I grabbed the rope and triumphantly
burst through the Gladiators'
logo and swung onto the finishing
mat. - I had actually won by a
six second lead!
I was ecstatic! - It was the most
incredible feeling of triumph
that I'd ever experienced. Ulrika
Johnson presented me with the
winning trophy and £300 prize
money. My two sons were the proudest
boys in the world as they watched
their mum do the winner's 'lap
of honour' around the arena.
The next day I could hardly move.
It took me ten minutes to get
out of bed! The resident physiotherapist
felt that I may have fractured
rib, but I didn't care....
I
had... The Winner's Trophy!
Photo by David Oke
I received a letter from
Nigel Lythgoe thanking me for
taking part in the live event,
but I would have to wait and
see if I would be one of the
chosen ones to compete on the
TV series.
'Glad'-Tidings from
Nigel!
Then....
A couple of months
later I was overjoyed to receive
a phone call telling me that I
had been selected as one of the
twelve women who would take part
in the 1993 series that was to
be filmed in the Birmingham Indoor
Arena in June.
It was fantastic! They put the
contestants up in a 4 star hotel
for a week while we trained. I'd
got to know some of the 'Gladiators'
quite well by then. I have to
say that 'Wolf' was my personal
favourite - he was a great character.
Then, to my delight, someone made
a mistake with the hotel bookings
and I ended up staying for one
night in the 'Gladiators' five
star hotel and had breakfast with
'Wolf' and his girlfriend the
next morning - Nigel Lythgoe,
(the producer), wasn't too happy
about it when he found out! -
Too late! (hee hee..!)
The contest was hard going - but
that's what you'd expect from
a show like that! The audience
were brilliant and really made
the whole thing great fun - They
all had a great laugh with me,
especially when one of the 'Gladiators'
tried to rip my top off during
'Powerball'!
It
was a close contest but to my
amazement and absolute elation…
I won again!
This qualified me for the quarter
finals a couple of weeks later.
With Ulrika Johnson at the
end of the TV show - having
just won.
Then disaster
struck again!..
My training had
gone well and my enthusiasm was
high. I had travelled up to Birmingham
on the train, the night before
the contest. However, on the morning
of the competition I was not feeling
particularly on 'top form'.
I got dressed and began walking
to the Arena - it was just a few
hundred yards from our hotel.
By the time I got there I was
shaking, nauseous, and quite dizzy.
A couple of the 'Gladiators' commented
on how 'dreadful' I looked and
asked me if I was feeling OK.
It was pretty obvious that I wasn't.
Anyway, I got changed into my
contestant's kit ready for my
first event - 'The Wall'.
It was apparent to everyone that
I wasn't my usual 'bubbly' self
and the floor manager suggested
that I went and got myself 'checked
out' by the resident doctor. He
examined me and said that both
my blood pressure and temperature
were far too high for him to allow
me to compete. I was devastated!
They announced to the audience
that a substitute would have to
take my place. I watched in despair
as my substitute went on to win
the show.
I felt sick to my stomach at the
'after show' party. Everyone else
was in 'party mood' celebrating
the day's events.
Although I received a lot of support
front Nigel, the 'Gladiators'
and of course other contestants,
I went home the next day in utter
disbelief at what had happened.
They reckoned it might have been
food poisoning, possibly caused
by a crab sandwich I'd eaten on
the train the day before!
"That's it!" I thought - "that's
the end of 'Gladiators' for me"
A year passed. It had been a difficult
year for all the family, coping
with the illness and subsequent
death of my stepfather. My training
had dwindled to nothing.
Then to my surprise, 'out of the
blue', I got a phone call from
Nigel Lythgoe saying that he hoped
that I'd kept up my training,
because he wanted me back on the
Series - The filming was due to
start in just under three weeks!
I was stunned! - People weren't
usually asked back.
Of course, I hadn't done any training
for nearly a year. I didn't know
what to say to him. I needed a
little time to think so I asked
him to phone me back a little
later and I would give him my
answer. He said that I had better
not leave it too long, as there
were now about 9,000 other 'hopefuls'
around the country who had undergone
'try-outs', just waiting for a
chance to be on the show!
I had to think quickly! - How
could I get fit enough in less
than three weeks? I knew that
if I went to the contest without
proper training I would surely
lose. But then I thought to myself
- "So what if I do lose?" - either
way it would be a great life experience…
So I rang Nigel back and said
that I would do it!…
…I did as much as I could to get
myself fit enough in time for
the show. I even got myself a
great tan! - So at least I 'looked'
pretty fit. - Unfortunately, I
knew that my cardiovascular fitness
wasn't nearly as good as I would
have liked.
The week of the contest soon came
around and the contestants were
gathered for the briefing - There
were twelve men and twelve women
- all the chosen contestants for
that entire series.
We were all looking at each other
and wondering whom we would be
'up against' in our particular
show. The girl that I sat next
to began telling me that she was
a pentathlete currently competing
in the Commonwealth Games during
that very same week. I remember
thinking "I wouldn't want to compete
against her in the show!"
Finally, the official listing
of the competitors for each show
was given to us, which we all
looked at eagerly. I couldn't
believe my bad luck… They had
put me up against the very pentathlete
that I had just been speaking
to! - I suddenly experienced the
worst sinking feeling I can ever
remember!
"Well, Rowan", I thought. "Time
to crash and burn." - And guess
what?..
That's exactly
what happened!
Oh well… 'C'est la vie'… You can't
win 'em all!
Still, looking back, it was
a brilliant life experience. The
winning and
the losing!
I'd just like to say, that one
of the most memorable things I
remember about it all, was the
amazing support I received from
other mothers who had watched
me on the series. Many had come
up to me after the shows and said
how I had been "an inspiration"
to them and how they wished they
could do something like that.
And do you know what? - I would
always turn round to them and
say - as my son said to me -
"Well, why don't you?...."
Being
a mum, even a single mum shouldn't
mean that you can't go ahead
and do something just for yourself
occasionally - even if it is
something crazy like entering
'Gladiators'!
Find
what is in your heart, take
a chance -
and just go for it - I did!
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