Gladiator Diamond says ‘being called skinny is an insult’ and believes overcoming childhood bullies made her the ‘strong woman’ she is today
Gladiator Diamond says being called ‘skinny’ is an ‘insult’ and believes overcoming childhood bullies has made her the ‘strong woman’ she is today.
Livi Sheldon, 29, told MailOnline she was subjected to cruel taunts growing up about her height, but now as a 6ft 7in bodybuilder she embraces her tall frame and even wears a 10kg weighted vest when walking with her dog to maintain her physique.
In an exclusive interview, the BBC star described her younger self as ‘lanky’, but after playing football from the age of six led to a career in fitness, she built up her strength and now wants to banish stereotypes that women shouldn’t have. bodies.
Diamond insists she doesn’t pay attention to online trolls and that her focus is on inspiring young women to become stronger and more powerful.
She said: ‘It’s not easy to build muscle, so when you work so hard at it, you don’t want to get knocked down.
Gladiator Diamond says being called ‘skinny’ is an ‘insult’ and believes overcoming childhood bullies made her the ‘strong woman’ she is today
Livi Sheldon told MailOnline she was subjected to cruel taunts growing up about her height, but now as a 6ft 3in bodybuilder she embraces her tall frame
In an exclusive interview, the BBC star described her younger self as ‘lanky’, but after playing football from the age of six led to a career in fitness, she built up her strength.
‘I’m here to show women that you can be strong, powerful and muscular. If someone turned to me right now and said I was skinny, I would take it as an insult.
‘I didn’t always have these muscles, I was lanky… I don’t know if that pushed me to build muscle later in life, but it’s what got me here.
‘I feel like I’ve been bullied before so now I don’t listen to anyone and I do what I want to do and build the body I wanted to build which has led to me being the woman I am today. I wouldn’t change a thing now.’
Diamond reflected on her difficult childhood, where she was bullied throughout her education, all because of her size.
But her setbacks have helped her be ‘resilient’ and competing professionally in bodybuilding has taught her that there is no ideal body type.
She said: ‘I was bullied throughout my childhood. I was bullied throughout primary and secondary school, I was bullied by several people.
“It built resilience in me, which gives me the strength to be the powerful woman I am today.
“It’s taught me to always be myself and the uniqueness that I have because I’m tall, and that’s what I was bullied about, to just embrace it.
Diamond reflected on her difficult childhood, where she was bullied throughout her education because of her size, but now says her setbacks helped her be ‘resilient’
In preparation for the Gladiators, Diamond wanted to ensure that there was no chance of being defeated by any of her competitors and therefore trained twice a day.
Despite her glamorous appearance on the BBC show, where she wears a skin-tight leotard with a cut-out center part to show off her rock-hard abs, Diamond says she hasn’t received any attention from male viewers.
‘Now it has helped me not to listen to stereotypes about women, having muscles and strength training.’
In preparation for the Gladiators, Diamond wanted to make sure there was no chance of being defeated by any of her competitors.
She created a fitness program and implemented a strict diet, including the consumption of 200 grams of protein per day, in an effort to become as muscular as possible.
Diamond worked out twice a day, including cardio sessions, CrossFit gymnastics and weight lifting, and even continued to train her body while walking her dog.
She said: ‘Before Gladiators, I used to track my food so I was eating a certain amount of calories. I was probably eating about 200 grams of protein a day because I was using a lot of energy to maintain my muscle mass.
‘I trained twice a day, doing cardio in the morning and strength training later. For example, on Monday I would do a high-intensity workout and then a bodybuilding session.
‘I went to CrossFit and did their gym sessions and I did cardio sessions wearing a 20-pound weighted vest and I walked my dog wearing that too.’
Despite her glamorous appearance on the BBC show, where she wears a skin-tight leotard with a cut-out center part to show off her rock-hard abs, Diamond says she hasn’t received any attention from male viewers.
Instead, the star was supported by her long-term boyfriend, who accompanied her on late-night walks when she was working out, and made sure their fridge was fully stocked so she could stay focused on her diet plan.
She said: ‘No, I haven’t had any DMs from men…it’s just parents saying how inspired their kids have been and also women saying they want to weight train, which is great to hear.
‘I’m in a relationship and I’m happy. We don’t train together much, but when I was doing body building and strength training he was extremely supportive, taking me for walks when it was really late at night and I wasn’t good at it. , things like that and making sure all the food was in when I was super tired.”
- Watch Diamond on Saturday March 23 when the second Gladiators semi-final airs on BBC One at 5.50pm. All current episodes are available on BBC iPlayer