Gladiators made a triumphant return to prime-time TV last year and is back for a New Year’s Day special, ahead of a new series.
But did you know that one of its 1990s stars went on to appear in a Bond film and dozens of other movies and TV shows – and now runs a lap-dancing club in Norwich?
“Have you ever thought about being a Gladiator?”
That question was put to Daz Crawford in the mid-1990s, not long after he had left the Royal Air Force.
He had found work as a stripper, but that was not a long-term career option.
Then a friend suggested he try out for one of the best-known shows on television.
Standing 6ft 4in (1.93m) tall and muscular, he certainly had the right look for a Gladiator.
His striking physique been honed through a rigorous training regime as an amateur boxer, once a contender for the Great Britain Olympic team.
“It didn’t matter whether it was Christmas Day, summer holidays or whatever; I still worked out,” he says.
Initially he was not keen on becoming a Gladiator, he admits. “I didn’t like the show. I thought it was all fake and steroids and that.”
But Crawford auditioned successfully and won a role replacing one of the original Gladiators, Warrior. He was given his own new identity: Diesel.
