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Gladiator, ready!

Cyclone, from BBC’s Gladiators, told David Hennessy about being the show’s first ever Irish Gladiator.

Cyclone became the first new Gladiator when she was added to the line up for the current second series.

She is also the first Irish Gladiator to be featured on either this current BBC iteration and in the history of the show taking into account the previous shows from ITV in the 90s and Sky’s revival in the late 2000s.

From Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford Cyclone (23) is an accomplished powerlifter. Her brother is the footballer Festy Ebosele who is on loan at Watford from Udineses and has seven caps for Republic of Ireland.

When she made her entrance to the Saturday night show recently she said, ‘I may be a new Gladiator but that doesn’t mean I am going to take it easy’.

The show sees members of the public pitted against the ‘superhuman’ Gladiators in events designed to test speed and strength.

Cyclone displayed from the very start that she intends to be particularly unforgiving.

We caught up with Cyclone last week to talk about joining The Gladiators. Our chat took place just days after her entrance episode went out.

Can you remember that moment you realised you were going to be a Gladiator?

“I was excited because this, it sounded like a show.

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“I didn’t actually know about the first series, and I didn’t know of the newer series either because I must live under a rock or something.

“But when she described the show to me I was like, ‘That’s something I’d love to do’.

“And I was excited just because I was like, ‘This sounds like fun. It sounds like a bit of me’.

“But then I was telling my close friends and I was doing my own research.

“I was like, ‘This is big. This is actually a massive deal’.

“Outside of me just excited to tackle someone to the floor, like, ‘This a massive deal’.

“And the show has such a legacy and people rate the other Gladiators so highly.

“I think as the show’s coming out, I’m now realising this is a massive deal so I think now, after a year, because I’ve known for so long, it’s sinking in that this is huge.”

I was watching you make your entrance. You were eager to make an impression from the get go, weren’t you?

“Oh, 1,000% as a new Gladiator.

“The old guys have obviously established such strong, dominating characters and you don’t want to get lost in the mix of it. You definitely want to show that, ‘Okay, I can hang with you guys. I can. I was chosen to do this’.

“And you do want to show everyone like, ‘Okay, cool. I was chosen for a reason as a new Gladiator’.

“So you want to execute and at the same time give a show as well because that’s important.”

You showed what you’re about in your first time out. After dispatching one contender in a duel, you told host Bradly Walsh you were not moving from that podium to chat to him instead saying, ‘Send me another contender’.

It was straight to business and no mucking around..

“Yeah, for sure.

“You just want to make a statement and make sure people remember Cyclone.”

Tell me about that name Cyclone. Do you get to pick it? Is it because you’re a force of nature? Is that it?

“Yeah, you hit the nail on the head.

“It was definitely a collaborative thing and for me, when I kind of thought of how I wanted to be presented on the show and what kind of Gladiator I wanted to be, that was something that was very clear in my head.

“I wanted to be a very dominating character, a very fierce character.

“I wanted to be someone that women can look up to because she takes up space, and I take up space in the arena unapologetically.

“I’m not afraid to go and win and show everyone what I’m made of.

“That’s what I wanted Cyclone to represent.

“We were chatting through what kind of names we could go through and we thought Cyclone would be perfect because first of all, if you get caught in a cyclone, you’re not getting out. You’re not escaping. You’ve already lost and again, as you said perfectly, just being a force of nature, something you don’t want to go up against.

“That’s how it came to be.”

Have you already been seeing the fan reaction, people are talking about Cyclone and her attitude..

“Yeah, 100% I’ve been seeing it. I’ve been seeing it and it’s good.

“It’s nice being controversial and people can perceive all the Gladiators in specific ways but I think it’s just interesting, because I’m a very strong, dominant female character, very straight talking as well.

“And some people are taking it as a villainous character but I don’t see it that way. I just see it as a woman who’s not afraid to show what she’s made of.”

I understand, she’s not like Legend who’s so full of himself, she’s simply determined and doesn’t mess around..

“Yeah, that’s the fine line.

“I wonder how that will change as the series goes on because obviously it was one episode so we’ll see how people perceive her and regardless of whether people think I’m a villain or not, I’m just gonna keep doing what I’m doing.”

How does it feel to be ‘the Irish Gladiator’.

I don’t recall there ever being an Irish Gladiator on the show before. Does it make you proud?

“I actually am the first ever Irish Gladiator from the old series and new series and it does make me proud.

“It makes me happy seeing Ireland is backing me as well.

“I’m getting all my old primary school teachers, secondary school teachers, people I used to go to school with, congratulating me.

“It’s cool to have something for the country, to have that representation out there.

“That there are Irish people who are doing their thing.”

Duel- an event where contenders and Gladiators, both armed with pugil sticks, swap blows on elevated platforms aiming to knock each other off- has been a Gladiators staple event of the earlier 1990s show and the original American show before that.

You’ve come out and said straightaway you think duel is going to be your event and you showed that already in knocking down your first two contenders with no trouble.

It’s all about upper body strength and therefore so suited to you, isn’t it?

“Yeah, 1,000% and it’s not even just upper body strength, there’s lower body strength because you’re up on this pedestal and you don’t want to fall over and that’s all in your legs, you have to be so planted.

“I knew no one could knock me off.

“I genuinely was like, ‘Bring me anyone and I promise you, they won’t be able to knock me off’.

“I’m going to be the one to knock the other person off.

“The only way you’d survive is if you stayed up there but that hasn’t happened yet.”

You even gave the contenders the chance to hit you first, was that your way of goading them saying, ‘Hit me with your best shot, I can take it’?

“Oh, 1,000%.

“That was planned and it was a bit of an intimidation tactic.

“Before the duel starts and we’re face to face I’m giving dirty looks.

“I’m trying to intimidate them as much as possible. I think that’s half of it and they’re always so scared, genuinely so scared.

“But you would be given how Cyclone looks and how I look up there because I think if you let someone hit you and you have no reaction, then they have they can’t do anything else, can they?”

I bet Powerball, with its combination of rugby and GAA, is another one for you, right?

“Powerball actually is my favourite game, 1,000% even over duel, because it’s so intense and you don’t have a second to think of what you’re going to do.

“It’s initially just in that minute that you’re on the platform with the contenders, it’s just don’t let them get that ball into any of the baskets.

“It’s really intense, it’s really fast paced and I just enjoy it so much.

“It’s electrifying and I think the crowd loves it as well because you can see how fast it moves and you want the contender to get it in.

“It’s tackling, it’s speed, it’s agility, it’s changing direction.

“I absolutely love it.”

Obviously you train with the other Gladiators. We don’t really get to see Gladiator versus Gladiator contests but who’s a lot to handle in terms of duel or in terms of Powerball because I bet you have swapped blows with Diamond, Fury, Sabre, all of them…

“We do and when we were training actually, now that you say that, I was matched up with Diamond.

“I think she’s six two and I’m never used to being shorter than any female (at 5’ 10) which was a first in any situation I’ve ever been in.

“We were matched up for duel and we’d give hits to each other.

“Obviously we’re super competitive but they do tell us, ‘Relax. We know you’re athletes and you’re all hyper competitive but if you guys get injured, there’s no show so let’s just train, make sure we get there’.

“But I said, ‘Diamond, hit me as hard as you can. I just want to see if I can take it’.

“And then she did and it was fine.

“I was like, ‘Okay, I can take this and there’s no contender who’s gonna hit me harder than Diamond, the six foot two stallion’.

“So I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll let the contenders hit me’. Bit of an intimidation tactic and yeah, it worked well.”

Is there a team spirit amongst you Gladiators? We see a bit of you in the in the locker room but I wondered are you a real team?

“Yeah, because given the nature of the show, it’s us versus them, isn’t it?

“We don’t want them, essentially, to get past us or win games against us although it is contender versus contender.

“If we bring our A game like if we hit you down in duel, it’s a good thing because we want you to be the strongest version of yourself.

“You’re never going to win Gladiators for no reason.

“You want to be able to say, ‘I went against Athena, I went against Diamond, I went against Cyclone and I won’, and that is a more deserved win.

“So if we’re hitting you off the podium in duel, if we’re slamming you to the floor, it’s because we care.”

Do you guys hang out? I can imagine you guys getting some looks if you all walked in somewhere together…

“Yeah, generally we all get on so well.

“We do hang out after the show and when we’re done filming and stuff, it is funny because you’d notice us straight away, right?

“Because it’s a bunch of jacked, very tall- I’ve never seen that many tall men in my life, tall and jacked men, the likes of Giant and Bionic are ridiculously huge.

“It’s insane and but yeah, very close knit.

“We keep in contact all the time and, as I said, they had such a core group last year so I can imagine it is difficult with two new faces trying to integrate into the group, but we just seamlessly blended in.

“Everyone’s so lovely.

“We get on so well and meet up after filming and stuff but even during the three weeks it was very difficult to do that because you’re coming in at like 7am to the arena, not finishing till 11, and everyone’s knackered so it’s like straight to bed, wake up early in the morning to do it all over again.

“But in between, when you’re not playing games, you’re in the back chilling- Me sleeping because I’m always sleeping, and chatting, just having fun, having a laugh.”

What do you think makes a Gladiator? If you look around that locker room what do you think unites you? Because I’m sure it’s more than muscles or the athleticism…

“I think the one thing we do share is we’re all the highest level athletes in our respective sports.

“That’s one thing that does tie us together.

“That’s a small facet of it, for sure, but I think another thing is just your mental fortitude and then your passion.

“Those are two huge things because in order to be those people who are at the highest level in our respective sports, we have the passion for what we do. We have the passion to take care of ourselves and the passion to be the best versions of ourselves as well.

“I think that’s what makes us leaders in our niches and then people who just work hard, that ties into the whole passion thing: People who care about what they’re doing.

“They care about the people around them.

“They care about elevating the people around them.

“You asked if we’re a team and there is very much a team spirit.

“We’re all there in the morning on the bus to the arena.

“We’re tired, we’ve done two, three shows back to back but everyone is still so happy to be there and every single Gladiator just loves the show and what it stands for.

“And there’s just that tight knit bond as well.

“I think those things are super, super important.”

Hosted by Ulrika Johnson and John Fashanu, Gladiators made stars of Gladiators such as Jet and Wolf when the series first came to the UK in 1992.

Were you aware of that show or are you just too young?

“I’m the second youngest gladiator here after Dynamite so I wasn’t even born when the first show was out.

“So I had no idea about the old show but I know people love it because when I told my friends they would be saying their mum grew up watching it and I was like, ‘This is insane’.

“Because I love the games and I love the panto and I love the lights but it has such a legacy that so many people know of which is an amazing thing, that we can emulate that through the newer version of the show.”

It is creating its own thing though, isn’t it?

“Yeah, it’s funny because I see the comments.

“Some people want it to be as similar to the old series as possible which is just so funny to me, having the exact same thing.

“Obviously it’s not the exact same but everyone’s like, ‘I’ll only watch if it’s all the same songs’, or ‘I’ll only watch if it’s all the same games and things’.

“It shows how impactful that original series was and then it’s about- again, as I said- emulating the series and having a new age aspect to it but keeping the essence of the show in the newer series as well.”

You are from Wexford and obviously have your background as a powerlifter, I was wondering did you ever play GAA?

“I did.

“I wasn’t a fan of the hurling but yeah, I actually did.

“In primary school we made it to Leinsters, but I think we ended up losing.

“We were climbing the ranks and then I remember we had this competition, my parents and my brother came down. It was a really big competition and we ended up losing the final which was destroying as a 13 year old.

“The whole group was just so sad about that.”

We said earlier that you were the first Irish Gladiator but I’ve just remembered there was a Kildare lad that might take issue with that. How funny would it be if they got Paul Mescal onto the show for a celebrity special or something?

“Oh, hilarious. Actually I think that’d be funny. We’ll definitely have to give him a call. Get him to come on.”

Because you’re the Irish Gladiator, not him, right?

“Yeah, exactly.”

Gladiators is on BBC1 5.50pm on Saturdays, also available on BBC iPlayer.

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