Spartan
Gladiators was the highlight of many people’s Saturday nights back in the 1990’s, and when we heard that they were back with a new cast (but the same old John Anderson) we had to get suck in and take on a couple of the scariest people I’ve ever seen wearing lycra.Spartan claims to be handsome, disciplined and brave and willing to take on any army – the perfect warrior. So I hooked up with him to find out if he could stand up to a hammering by FemaleFirst.
Hi there Spartan, how are you enjoying life as a Gladiator?
It’s great fun, I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into all the events again and I’m missing the taking part because it’s being like on a big playground. Other than that my life hasn’t changed that much really, it’s just like an added bonus.Do you find that people recognise you now?
In the right places. Surprisingly not in London but when I go back to my home town in Grantham everyone knows who I am, but when I’m not wearing the lycra I’m not that recognisable.#Do you like wearing your clingy uniforms?
Yeah, they’re okay, I was a bit shocked to start with and thought “What am I wearing?” but I am completely comfortable with it now and it’s part of the job so I guess it’s alright.
Do you think the new series with you all on is as good as the old series?
Yeah! It’s a difficult question because it’s very different now. If we were to re-create the old series it wouldn’t work at all because it’s a different culture now so it’s hard to compare them in that way.
The Eliminator at the end looks a lot easier on this series…is it?
I don’t know, if you watch on and then the other you will see they are quite similar. There are some differences but I’ve had a go at it and trust me, it’s not easy. I’ve seen people try to do it who have wanted to have a go but they haven’t been able to do it at all.
I suppose it’s easy to say it looks easy when you’re sat on your sofa watching it as I’m sure you did when you was little! Who was your favourite Gladiator from the original series?
I was a big fan of Wolf. He’s not really like my character as he’s the baddie and I’m a goodie but I really liked him because he had so much charisma.
How did you come up with the name Spartan?
It was actually presented to me by the production team. When they saw me at the auditions they saw an ancient mythical greek look so they chose the name Spartan because of what they did when they took on hundreds of thousands with just a few men.
I pushed that because it was fighting for honour and glory which is my outlook on sports.
How did you end up becoming a Gladiator?
Watching the show as a kid I’d always aspired to but it wasn’t something I thought I wanted to be because it wasn’t a realistic aim. For me I was in the right place at the right time as I got into the auditions.
Once I got into the auditions I gave it all I’d got and I aced the fitness test and from then on it was a test of character as you had to act and fit in.
Some of your colleagues look dead scary, do you all get on off set?
Oblivion is supposed to be one of the scary ones and he so isn’t. Everyone is really nice and we all get on. With the Gladiators, their personalities are extensions of their already existing personas but generally they’re really nice and cool and we all get on really well.
What do you think you’d be doing if you weren’t a Gladiator?
I wouldn’t be doing too much differently. I’m also a freelance designer and artist so I’d still be doing that and working on releasing a sports brand which is something I’ve been doing for a long while.
Tell me a little bit about your art, what inspires you?
I suppose sport inspires me a lot, one of my websites, hijackbaselayer.com has lots of sports gear based around contemporary art prints and so it’s loads of different stuff because I was a graffiti artist for a few years so that’s where it began and it’s developed from there.
Meet The Spartans came out earlier this year and Sean Maguire plays the King Of Sparta in the film, do you think you could beat him if he came on Gladiators?
Yeah. I think TV is one thing and film is another and you can’t doubt what we do as Gladiators on the show and no matter how much people would like to take us on I think that once they got here they would realise the intensity and realise that a few sit-ups and bicep curls aren’t going to cut it - you have to be elite to take us on.
If someone was to play you in a film of your life who would it be and why?
I don’t know. I’d like to do it myself to be honest but if not, my little brother, who looks a bit like me but younger.
Good answer; and very sensible too, I like that you have brains and brawn.
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison