Inside the lives of the Gladiators that went wayward: Cocaine, blackmail, and a plot to bail out an international drug lord
Gladiators‘ BBC reboot has been a roaring success with the launch show with 8.7 million viewers last month, but it hasn’t avoided controversy.
Reus, from the new cast of superhumans, whose real name is Jamie Christian-Johal, made headlines after the show resurfaced YouTube videos allegedly showed the strongman talking about using ‘muscle strengthening’ class C drugs.
However, he said he no longer uses steroids after quitting them more than a year ago.
Such controversies were a hallmark of the show’s former cast, with several of the original stars spending time in prison.
Read more below about all the former gladiators whose lives went astray…
The original Gladiators became household names, but some of the cast went astray after the ITV show ended in 2000
The new Gladiators have already had a taste of controversy when videos of Giant (pictured) surfaced in which the strongman reportedly discussed taking ‘muscle-strengthening’ Class C drugs
A court heard how Jefferson King, who went by the name Shadow in his heyday, was involved in a blackmail plot after a day of smoking drugs ‘rapidly degenerated’
Shadow’s drugs led to a blackmail plot
The original Gladiator named Shadow, real name Jefferson King, was dropped from the show two years later amid allegations that he had used cocaine in a London nightclub.
However, according to program maker, he left because he tested positive for steroids.
King reportedly started using cocaine from the age of 14 after moving to New York, and his addiction worsened after he split with his wife – after being dropped from the ITV hit show.
To finance the addiction, Jefferson took out loans from his family and became involved in crime.
In a 2015 interview, he revealed that he had managed to turn his life around, but six years later, at the age of 60, he admitted to taking part in a drug-fueled blackmail plot.
He was sent home for six years and three months after demanding £1,000 from the family of a 40-year-old man who had been taken hostage.
At one point, King allegedly ordered a co-defendant to “get a hammer to break his legs” after the victim, Aaron Ali, tried to flee.
So-called ringleader Simon Batson, Donna Harman and Otis Noel were also convicted for their roles in the plot which saw Ali held for around six and a half hours.
In 2018, disgraced former gladiator Mike Ahearne, aka Warrior, made headlines when a court heard he was caught by police with shopping bags full of steroids and CS aerosols
Fighter in corruption scandal
After seven years of earning up to £100,000 a year, Mike Ahearne’s world of luxury and celebrity collapsed when he was linked to a corruption scandal.
Gladiator’s Warrior was arrested on March 13, 1997, accused of involvement in a plot to persecute the prosecution of Philip Glennon Jr.
Glennon Jr. was accused of shooting at a bouncer and then a police officer outside a Liverpool nightclub last year and was charged with attempted murder.
He is the brother-in-law of Liverpool drug lord Curtis Warren, who tried to foil the investigation by paying corrupt officer Chief Inspector Elmore ‘Elly’ Davies £10,000 to pass on details of what police knew about the incident. doorman was also shot.
Ahearne acted as an intermediary, passing money from Warren to his friend Davies – then head of the Merseyside drugs squad – for information about the case.
Following a trial at Nottingham Crown Court in 1998, during which Ahearne decided not to give evidence, the TV star was convicted of an act tending to pervert the course of justice and jailed for 15 months.
Davies was jailed for five years, while a third man was jailed for three years.
Ahearne made headlines again in 2018 when a court heard he had been caught by police with shopping bags full of steroids and CS aerosols.
Liverpool Magistrates’ Court heard that police raided the then 59-year-old’s home in Rose Mount, Oxton, Wirral on January 23, 2018.
They found a large stash of various anabolic steroids packed in a plastic Tesco carrier bag, another shopping bag and two boxes.
Ahearne was arrested on suspicion of possessing Class C drugs with intent to supply, but no charges were laid over the seizure.
But he was charged over the CS spray and admitted three counts of possessing a weapon ‘designed or modified for the discharge of a noxious liquid’.
The former bodybuilder was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court in October 2018 to six months in prison, suspended for 12 months, for these offences.
After turning his back on show business, Warren found God and is about to become a pastor, but admitted times were tough while he was on the show
Ace’s drinking habit
In 2022, Warren Furman, aka Ace, warned the show’s new cast ahead of its return, citing his own struggles after leaving Gladiators.
The fan favorite admitted he struggled to control alcohol and steroid abuse during filming after being thrust into the spotlight.
He earned a huge £2,000 an hour on the show, he said The sun: ‘My destructive choices were slowly killing me.’
He added that the pressure of the spotlight “cursed” his young relationship with glamor model Katie Price – then known as Jordan.
The couple got engaged in 1997, but throughout their nearly two-year relationship, they each sold stories about their sex lives.
Things turned sour when Warren accused Katie of having sex with Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher, Michael’s brother.
Ace lasted until the last original series of Gladiators in 2000, after which he suffered a dramatic drop in income. In 2019 he said he was struggling to earn £20 an hour after leaving ITV.
However, after turning his life around, the former construction manager revealed in January that he is set to become a pastor.