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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Louise Randell

Ulrika Jonsson says Gladiators were 'bed-hopping ego-maniacs' as she lifts lid on show

Ulrika Jonsson has lifted the lid on the saucy backstage antics of the Gladiators - admitting there was a "lot of bed-hopping".

The telly star, 53, presented the 1990s show from 1992 until 2000 alongside co-host John Fashanu, and she's now opened up about what went on backstage.

The cast were all put up in a hotel during filming, and Ulrika admits the nights were wild.

She told The Sun : "That first year in the Hyatt Regency hotel, which we more or less took over, there was a lot of bed-hopping, as there would be with a bunch of young, virile men and women with insane bodies.

"Apparently, there were quite a few multiples of people enjoying a bit of rough and tumble under the covers, while I was up in my room writing the script and furiously trying to learn my lines.

Gladiators was one of the biggest shows on telly back in the 1990s (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

"The hotel struggled, but eventually learned to cope with their obsessive nocturnal and nutritional demands."

Ulrika revealed the muscled stars were banned from using fake tan because it often stained the hotel's sheets so there were always huge queues to use the sun beds on site.

She also admitted she was taken aback by the "arrogance" of the Gladiators stars, confessing many were very vain and obsessed over building their physiques.

Ulrika Jonsson with Wolf, Shadow, Saracen and Cobra (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
'GLADIATORS REAAADDDYYYY!' Very first ITV promo for the hit show Gladiators

The telly star went on: "Eye-popping muscles like that come with an extraordinary vanity. The vast majority of them were so focused on themselves and their amazing bodies that their egos easily outsized anything an average person could imagine.

"I have to admit that initially I was quite astounded by the arrogance of some of them. They saw themselves as more important than - dare I say it - even the show itself."

Gladiators star Cobra - real name Michael Willson - previously opened up about the show's backstage antics in an interview with The Mirror, confessing there were plenty of wild parties and behind-the-scenes romps.

Cobra admitted there were plenty of boozy parties off-screen (ITV)

He told us: "There were end of show parties, when we had international Gladiators come over, we would be up all night boozing...

"I used to drink too much during the first three years, we didn’t know whether we would be asked back, so we would party.

"Ironically I never used to drink a drop before I was on Gladiators.

"We never had to drive any where, we had hospitality twice a day… so there would be wine and booze and stuff flowing.

"We used to have a school report and go in and see producers and they would say you’ve been drinking too much, partying too much."

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