Exclusive:
Sabre, whose real name is Sheli McCoy has revealed the true reason why she signed up to the BBC programme and it all falls down to wanting to use her platform to help others
Gladiator Sabre says she wants to use her platform on the hit show to inspire young girls.
The star, real name Sheli McCoy, 36, reveals her ambition stems from being teased about her athletic appearance at school. She says: “The main reason I joined was to inspire young girls. When they told me there would be a platform to then be inspirational, motivational or educational to a wider audience I said yes.
“Throughout school I was called a man because I was athletic, I had a lower voice. I wanted to be part of that force that led women into understanding their own empowerment. That you can be fit, you can have a six-pack, you can have bigger shoulders than your boyfriend, and that’s OK.
“It’s important to me that women can be unapologetically athletic, they can still be feminine, they can still wear dresses, they can be pretty. I have a teddy bear, and I’m OK with that because I could also kill you.” Raised in Fife, she earned a master’s degree in health science from Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University. She later became a Scottish weightlifting champion in three different weight categories before opening her own gym.
During her interview process, Sabre demanded to know if the rebooted version of Gladiators would be different to the 90s. She says: “I asked how women were going to be perceived. I did say, ‘are women going to be equals in the show?’ I felt in the previous show they were to some degree – but there was still a total narrative around objectifying women at that time.
“But it’s 2024… and the BBC have definitely given women space to show their power, stamina, agility [and] skill.” After being hurt last year during a game called The Edge, Sabre is back on our screens as the second series of Gladiators starts this evening. Six people million tuned in last year.
And the Gladiators have back-up as Irish powerlifter Cyclone, 23, and world rowing champion, Hammer, 32, from Nottingham, have joined. The show was a huge hit in the 90s. Hosted by Ulrika Jonsson and John Fashanu, Gladiators included former Olympic and Commonwealth swimming champion Sharron Davies, 62, who was known as Amazon and Diane Youdale-Gilbert, 54, who was Jet.
Last year Diane recalled how bosses had asked the female Gladiators to pose in ways that made her uncomfortable. Speaking on Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4, she said: ‘’They wanted to do a grab shot of the girls semi-draped over this jeep without our tracksuit bottoms on. I said, ‘absolutely not’.”
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