It has been more than a decade since Jennifer Stoute last competed in the Gladiators arena on TV and she's now comfortably watching the reboot, rather than taking part.
The former athlete, now 58, was best known to viewers of ITV's original series as Rebel. She appeared on the beloved show for four years from 1996 to 1999, before returning for Sky One's short-lived revival, which ran from 2008 to 2009.
Jennifer reflected on those experiences in an interview with the Mirror this week. She also shared her thoughts on the BBC's new reboot of Gladiators, which launched last month and features a whole new line-up of athletic competitors.
Jennifer Stoute appeared on the original series of Gladiators under the alias Rebel (Sunday Mirror)
She spoke to the Mirror about her experience recently following the launch of a reboot (instagram/@gorgeousfifties)She told us that being on the original series was "one of the best decisions" she's made, noting that it changed her path in life. She commented: "[I was] living quite a surreal life but having really good fun whilst doing it and learning skills."
The former sprinter was already an Olympic medalist when she joined the show, having won a bronze medal in the 4 x 400m relay at the 1992 contest in Barcelona. She said that doing the Gladiators was "a whole new ball game" and that trying to get herself motivated in a different arena proved "difficult" when she debuted in Gladiators' fifth season.
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She explained: "[Track and field is] so singular and you're in your own world. It's just you against yourself. You had to get yourself ready for you. It was just me running down a track, singular, no one touching me, no one doing anything."
Jennifer said that she used to refer to the Gladiators cast as "rock stars," adding that there would be thousands of fans screaming their names when they got to the stadium in Birmingham each day. "It was an absolute buzz," she said.
She added that the cast were "like over-sized adults" in the challenges, "playing a mind game with [their] opponent and seeing who came out on top". Jennifer reflected: "I had a fantastic time. It was brutal but I had a really great time."
Asked about their outfits, which have prompted discussion in recent years, she said: "Gladiators was all about fitness, strength and all about looking the best that you were because you were athletic as such [so] I don't think there was a major problem when it came to the costumes."
She said: "It is about physicality [and] being strong. And it's about almost sort of like beyond life-like basically." She added that although it was a "quite skimpy look," they weren't doing anything that would be "damaging" to their careers. She said: "I didn't feel like I was taking a step back because I thought that the costumes were very modest."
Jennifer shared that some of the cast had a trick to prevent the leotards from being too revealing. She told us: "We had, which was really fantastic, I think one of the cheerleaders got for us, was like this stick of glue that you could put on your leotard bottom and they would stick so they wouldn't move. So that was the only thing for girls anyway."
Jennifer appeared on ITV's Gladiators for four years, before taking part in Sky's revival (Sunday Mirror)The Commonwealth Games gold medalist said she's still in contact with some of her former colleagues, including Ulrika Jonsson, 56, who hosted the original Gladiators. Jennifer said that they remain "very, very close" friends.
Jennifer - who is godmother to Ulrika's son Malcolm, 15 - said that they "talk all the time" and have been "friends forever". She went on to share that it was Ulrika who told her, whilst on holiday together, that Gladiators was ending.
The former participant said that she found out about its cancellation on the plane back from Mauritius with Ulrika. The show's final episode aired in 2000, with its cancellation having been announced in February the previous year.
The former Gladiator told us earlier this week: "[Ulrika] said 'Jennifer do you know that we haven't got a job?' I said 'what do you mean?' She said 'my agent's just said that Gladiators has finished'. And I was like 'what?' It just finished like that without even giving us a warning. There was no kind of like 'oh we're not gonna do [a] next series' or anything."
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She said: "[So I found out] on a plane back from holiday. I think it might have been the beginning of 2000 or the end of 1999 but it was after we did our last show. And Ulrika [just said on holiday] 'oh just to let you know we're unemployed'."
Following the end of the game show, Jennifer performed stunts in the Oscar-winning film Gladiator (2000), which starred Russell Crowe. She was joined by former co-stars Jane Omorogbe (Rio) and Pauline Richards (Rocket).
Jennifer said that being out in Malta for 12 weeks was a "brilliant experience" but that it led to regret. She said: "One of the things that I think I kind of regretted a little bit at the time was that we ran over by a week doing the filming."
She added that she had received a call about a presenting role on ITV show Don't Try This at Home alongside the likes of Davina McCall and Kate Thornton. Jennifer however stated that scheduling conflicts prevented her from doing it.
Discussing the situation, Jennifer recalled in our interview: "I actually wanted to go into presenting at the time and I was like 'wow yeah I wanna do it' but I couldn't get off the movie set because I had to be there for another week."
Her daughters Alicia Regis (centre) and Renee Regis (left) have followed in her footsteps by becoming athletes (instagram/@gorgeousfifties)
Jennifer is close pals with former colleague Ulrika Jonsson, who hosted the original Gladiators (instagram/@gorgeousfifties)She continued: "I lost that opportunity [and] I don't know if it would have taken me anywhere or not." Further reflecting, she commented: "Maybe I would have been a presenter now or something I don't know. I really wanted to do it."
Years later, Jennifer returned to the Gladiators arena for Sky's revival in 2008. The former athlete, who was then in her forties and had two children, said it was "quite daunting" initially but that she's always up for being challenged.
She commented: "It's a shame in [with that revival] because I think that Kirsty Gallacher and Ian Wright were really fantastic presenters but I think the whole way in which they had staged that Gladiators at the time was that they'd made everyone become characters and that wasn't the thing."
Jennifer continued: "The thing that made the original Gladiators stand out was that we only had one person who was a super-live person and that was Wolf [played by Michael Van Wijk]. Nobody tried to sort of outdo him."
"I don't think anyone pretended to be anything other than themselves," she said, adding: "The only character was Wolf and we were really quite happy to have that. We just had fun. I think that's the thing that stood out in the actual programme itself that we were just our own personalities."
She said the first revival "created too many characters" instead, stating: "I think the public wasn't ready for loads of characters. They wanted some sort of realism." And she suggested that the reboot should avoid the same issue.
"I think that with the Gladiators that are there now, they don't have to be like over sort of like opinionated or try to be too much of these sort of like big characters - they just need to be themselves," she commented about the cast.
The pair, pictured several years ago, met on the ITV show and have remained close since then (instagram/@ulrikajonssonofficial)Sharing her thoughts on the BBC's reboot, which is airing at the moment, she said: "I think the show is really great. I think the way they've put it together is fantastic." She went on to discuss hosts Bradley Walsh, 63, and Barney Walsh, 26.
Jennifer said she wanted "a little ruggedness," saying: "I think both of them are amazing but there seems to be like a little element of whether or not they should have brought in people who weren't so much entertainment presenters but more of kind of like a little ruggedness in there somewhere."
Mentioning the original show's two hosts Ulrika and John Fashanu, she further commented in the interview: "That was like a fantastic combination because you had someone who's really witty and y'know a little bit of ruggedness."
And she went on to comment: "I think Barney's really quite clean-cut and his dad's clean-cut as well, which is great, but I think the show needed a little bit of an edge with the actual presenters themselves. But the viewing figures are showing that it's a hit and I think it will grow on people."
The former participant said: "I love the fact that Gladiators is back on TV. [I'm] really happy for all the guys that are actually gonna be part of it and I really do hope that it will be a success." She added that its return is "exciting".
Jennifer however suggested that they "missed a trick" by not involving former Gladiators. She said: "I understand that they didn't want the old Gladiators to be there to take away from the new ones, but it would've kind of like easily blended in so that it could give a bit more of a character to it without having too many forced personalities."
She said: "I think that when you have too many characters, you end up killing the show. It doesn't become personal and I think that's what we had - we had that personal kind of touch because everybody knew that they could actually be like us, because we were just normal people."
Addressing disappointment among some fans that former cast members haven't returned, she told us: "I do believe that the reason why they could bring back [the show] was because of the actual Gladiators - the original Gladiators that actually started the show made it a success.
"I'm not saying they had to take over the show or anything like that, but they could have integrated y'know some of the Gladiators in there so they could bring back some of that familiarity to the actual show. That's how I think on my side."
Jennifer said she's 'excited' by the BBC's Gladiators reboot, which is hosted by Bradley Walsh (centre left) and his son Barney Walsh (centre right) (BBC / Nick Eagle / © Hungry Bear Media Ltd)She continued about the BBC reboot: "But I do get it on their side that they didn't want a crossover, they wanted... whether it's political or what I don't know... [it to be distinct from ITV's version]. But it's a shame because a crossover I think would have [been] perfect. I don't think it would have been anyone trying to outshine anyone."
Asked if she'd have been open to returning, Jennifer said: "I'd have come back and sat in the audience, yeah sure. I wouldn't have come back and been a Gladiator because if they hit me, I definitely would not be getting back up again."
She added: "I'm 58, like come on, this has to be reality now. There's no way. It doesn't matter how much my brain would be like 'yeah I can take them on'. There's no way. Y'know one hit and I'm just gonna be like putty on the floor. I'd probably get on one show and I'd be finished.
"We've all got to be real when we get to a certain age and stuff. I'm sure some of the boys might think that they could still do it but there's no way. Like all you do is get one knock and you're out for the whole series so it's definitely not worth it. I'm quite happy to sit and get [an inflatable] hand and say 'another one bites the dust' with the audience."
Jennifer's daughters Alicia Regis, 22, and Renee Regis, 18, have followed in her footsteps by becoming track athletes themselves. Asked how she would feel if they'd have signed up for the Gladiators reboot, she told us: "I'd have loved it."
She further commented: "It would have been fantastic. If one of my daughters said that they actually wanted to go on there, whether they wanted to be a contestant or a Gladiator, yeah I'd be super proud. Completely proud."
Since her last stint in the arena, Jennifer has moved into modelling and runs sports agency Astra Partners with her ex-partner Jon Regis. She said: "I love being around the athletes and of course [our] daughters are athletes as well."
She told us: "I'm really big on fitness and health for women of my age group." Jennifer added that in 2018 she won a modelling contest by fashion brand JD Williams which led to her being signed by agency Models 1. "Been doing quite a bit of modelling for the mid-fifties," she told us recently.
Jennifer later reflected: "I've really loved my ride in life. [Gladiators] did set me really well in life. [It] kind of gave me that little crossover that I needed and that little push to almost allow yourself to become the best version of you.
"And having my two girls and showing them that it doesn't matter what age that I'm at, that I can keep recreating myself on a regular basis, and keep pushing my level to as far as I wanna be. I wanna see what the best is of me."
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