Ex-Gladiator star from Bournemouth describes life after the show

Sam Bond was known as Atlas in the 2008/09 revival of the series on Sky

A former star of Gladiators has described life after being on the show ahead of its latest reboot.

Sam Bond is a 40-year-old management consultant living in Bournemouth with his wife and children.

But rewind to 2008 - when the hit gameshow was revived by Sky - and Sam was Atlas.

Atlas was a near-17st (108kg) bodybuilder who thrived in classic Gladiator games like Hang Tough and The Gauntlet.

"It's a pretty cool story to tell people," he says.

Although he admits his children do not seem quite so bothered by it all.

Sam admits his children do not seem quite so bothered by his Gladiator past

They might be though when they tune in later to the BBC's reboot hosted by father and son presenting team Bradley and Barney Walsh.

Fans are hoping they can recapture the magic the show generated in the 1990s when it drew in audiences of 14 million on ITV with Gladiators including Jet, Cobra and Wolf among the star names.

For Sam, the programme had already been off air for eight years when he decided to apply to be a challenger.

But the producers had other ideas and they offered him the chance to become a Gladiator instead - an opportunity too good to turn down.

He remembers being asked what name he wanted and ending up on Atlas because his university nickname of He-Man - in reference to the comic book muscle-bound superhero - was already a registered trademark.

Hosts Bradley and Barney Walsh alongside the new Gladiators

Sam says his experience of Gladiators was that it was "more intense than a gameshow".

"There is some playing for the cameras but the events are taken very seriously," he says.

"Some events are like nothing else you have experienced.

"That feeling is not matched or paralleled by many things."

But the Sky revival did not last - after two series Gladiators was again axed.

Sam was a fearsome competitor when it came to games like Hang Tough and The Gauntlet

"Initially when I finished the show I wasn't always positive," he says.

"After the show ended I did panto at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton and tried out life working in the media.

"I realised I wasn't cut out for it, it just wasn't a natural fit for me."

He took some time away from work and went travelling around Asia with his wife before the couple returned to Dorset to start a family.

His body shape has changed over the years, he says, and he describes his current physique as "lived in".

"In your 20s you're willing to sacrifice things for exercise but now I have my family I'm less willing to make those sacrifices."

He will though always have some fond memories and says he will forever feel grateful he got to live the "Gladiator experience".

Gladiators starts on Saturday at 17:50 GMT on BBC One and iPlayer

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