Ulrika Jonsson lifts lid on sex secrets of iconic Gladiators
Ulrika Jonsson has lifted the lid on the sex secrets and diva demands on hit show Gladiators as it prepares to make a TV comeback.
The former TV-am weathergirl hosted the popular series for eight years during its heyday on ITV during the 1990s, until it ended in 2000.
But as the show prepares for a BBC One reboot with Bradley Walsh and son Barney on hosting duties, Ulrika reveals some of its
former stars were not short of bedroom companions.
And they were also fanatical about their toned bodies.
She says many stars – which included household names such as Wolf, Cobra and Jet – were often banned from using fake tans in hotels as it ruined their sheets.
The 56-year-old said: “Was everyone having sex on Gladiators back in the day? Apparently, but not me – I was too busy learning my lines.
“In the first year, we took over a whole hotel floor and there was loads of jumping about from room to room. There are loads of stories. It was a sexy show.”
The Swedish-born star, who hosted alongside former footballer John Fashanu, says the Gladiators were treated like gods by ITV chiefs as they became obsessed with their own body image – while she was often ignored.
“We used to film in Birmingham. In the third year we were doing the show, the Gladiators had to have their own security,” Ulrika said.
“It’s really bizarre but they became so popular and had to be transported in a coach back to the hotel – but I was left to walk on my own in the dark.
“But the TV bosses were like, ‘She’s all right’. The third year I was pregnant and I was like, ‘Maybe somebody could give me a lift or help me cross the bridge?’.”
Ulrika, who briefly dated Gladi-ator star Hunter in 1996, added: “For the Gladiators their entire life was about their bodies. They became massive stars and their egos popped. Bodybuilding obviously becomes a kind of addiction.
“I went through a phase of being into fitness, but for them they created something extraordinary as they are not ordinary bodies.”
And despite the show’s glamour, Ulrika often ended up rewriting her own scripts and choosing her own outfits as she did not like the way ITV tried to portray her.
She said: “They used to say typical ITV things like, ‘Oh Cinderella, she is going to a ball’ and I was like, ‘I would never say that’ so I used to rewrite the scripts and just work it all out and do little links."
“I also asked for my clothes to be changed."
