Gladiators' most dangerous TV accidents - near-death fall and double neck break
Many of the original Gladiators cast ended up in hospital after suffering gruesome and crippling injuries.
It's been over 30 years since the iconic '90s show first aired on our screens and now the Gladiators is returning with a brand new batch of Lycra-clad warriors. The original series, which was hosted by Ulrika Johnson, John Fashanu and Jeremy Guscott, saw competitors take on the ultimate test of speed and strength.
But the gameshow wasn't without risk and many of the contestants encountered painful injuries and near-death accidents that left a lasting effect on their lives. As BBC's reboot makes its debut, we take a look back at the most dangerous moments in history, from a double neck break to an exploded knee cap.
Freak accident
Diane Youdale landed 'pencil-point down' on her neck and felt it crack (Rex Features)
She made the decision to leave the show and said it was 'too close for comfort' (Rex Features)In 1996, it all came crashing down for Diane Youdale, known as Jet, when she suffered a near-fatal fall from a giant pyramid as part of the show. After grappling with one of the contenders, Diane, then 26, landed awkwardly and felt her neck crack. She had her opponent "in a rugby tackle" before they went "flying through the air", during an untelevised version of the show.
Speaking to The Sun, she explained: "By the time I hit the floor at the bottom of the pyramid, my head was in the way." Diane landed 'pencil-point down' and remembers thinking, 'Have I broken my neck?' She was taken by an ambulance to hospital, where doctors revealed she had compressed her spinal cord and said she was lucky to be alive at all.
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Diane said that being so bendy and flexible had saved her from breaking her neck, but she could've been left paralysed, if not dead. The pyramid was then banned by producers. "I made that choice, and that was to leave," Diane recalled. "I just thought, 'I'm out of here'. I'm sorry but that was too close for comfort."
Ripped knee
Michael ripped his knee after hitting it with 'tremendous force' during the Atlaspheres event (ITV)Michael Ahearne, known as Warrior, had to be whizzed off to hospital after his knee dislocated while rolling around inside huge steel balls for the Atlaspheres event. He told the show: "I was in tremendous pain when the accident occurred... I turned around and my knee stayed behind me. I thought I broke my leg at first when I heard the noise and I realised it was my knee that had dislocated. I have had an accident like this before... it makes people realise what a tough game it is."
Physio Mike Garmston explained the accident "actually ripped out the poly-mechanism of the knee" and was caused by "tremendous force". He explained: "It's a little bit like a train sitting on the track and the knee cap has been pulled off its track with tremendous and there was considerable damage in the inside part of the knee."
Horrendous fall
Helen O'Reilly thought she was going to die when her neck almost snapped after a bad fall (ITV)Helen O'Reilly, known as Panther, suffered a 'pretty horrendous' fall during the Tilt event in 1994 and felt her neck almost snap. Competitors were taking part in a tug of war and were trying to pull each other off a raised platform when Helen fell and landed head-first onto the crashmat. She hit with such force that her legs went over her head.
Helen had to be taken away on a stretcher and medics said she had severe back and neck injuries. She recovered in around five month but decided to retire that year. Helen said she was so traumatised that she has "no memory at all" of the fall. In 1996, she told The Sun: "It was the most terrifying experience of my life. I thought I was going to die."
Traumatic injury
Judy Simpson suffered a bad head fall and had to be carried off the show on a stretcher (ITV)The following year, Judy Simpson, known as Nightshade, also had to be taken away on a stretcher after suffering a bad fall during the Tilt event. In 1995, she fell backward off the platform and lay writhing on the floor with her hands holding her head. Commentator Guy Mowbray said on the show: "She looks to be in a bad way... This does not look good for Nightshade." Judy recovered and made a brief return before retiring in 1996.
Double neck break
Kate Staples, known as Zodiac, had such a horrific fall during the Pole-Axe event that it ended her career as an athlete. In 1996, she was racing up a 40ft revolving pole on the show when she fell with such momentum that it snapped her neck in two places. Speaking to the Daily Express in 2012, Kate said: "I broke my neck in two places. I knew my life as an athlete was over. Surgery took nine hours but my rehabilitation took two years."
The event was cut from the show temporarily, but was reintroduced a year later with safety harnesses. Despite the trauma of the fall, Kate insisted the accident was "the best thing that ever happened to me". She explained that it forced her to "go back to the drawing board" and made her count her blessings.
Kate Staples broke her neck in two places and knew her life as an athlete 'was over'
Sharron Davies only lasted one series before she aggravated a painful existing knee injury (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Awkward collide
Sharron Davies, who was known as Amazon, was forced to leave after just one series on the show after she aggravated an existing knee injury. She had got her foot trapped in a pothole at the age of 11 and damaged her ligaments. She recovered enough to become a professional swimmer, but it all came crashing down in 1995 when she had an awkward collide on Gladiators.
She told The Mirror in 2012: "It wasn't until I did Gladiators in the mid-90s that whatever was left of my cruciate ligament completely went. I was pulling down a contender during the pyramid game and we came tumbling down. I got to the bottom and my leg was flat and bent at 90 degrees. She fell on it and that was the end of the anterior cruciate ligament in my right knee.
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"As there wasn't an awful lot left of the ligament, it wasn't as painful as it should have been. But I couldn't walk on it. I knew I'd done some serious damage to it but my doctor said the roots of the injury went back to my childhood injury. I needed an immediate ligament reconstruction, which was the first of nine operations."
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