90s Gladiators star Hunter reveals ‘change of pace’ career change

Former Gladiators star Hunter has revealed he needed a change of pace after he “annihilated” his body in the hit TV series.

The bodybuilder, real name James Crossley, competed in the original UK series of Gladiators from 1993 to 2000, but now runs a sound healing teacher training school.

He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I know it’s quite a contrast from Gladiators, strongman body building, but basically I run a gong practitioner teacher training school.

“So I teach people to play gongs, and they can get certified. I also run a hand pan academy, so people play hand pans and I’m a musician really now, and I do all this different music.”

Asked by Ed Balls what a gong bath entails, Crossley said: “You don’t have to get wet. All you’re doing is bathing in vibrations and sound gives the body a bit of a retune.

“It’s great for stress relief, for sleep, all that kind of thing. It’s really, really nice to put you in a relaxed state.

“For someone that’s annihilated their body for so many years, had so many injuries, I needed to find a switch, a change of pace, and I found sound healing and music was a great change.”

Gladiators returned to TV in 2023 and continues to be a ratings hit for the BBC, with a new generation of superhuman gladiators battling civilian contenders.

At its peak, the original series of Gladiators – broadcast from 1992 to 2000 – drew huge audiences to its Saturday evening ITV slot as the famous call of “Contenders Ready? Gladiators Ready?” echoed across TV screens.

The likes of Trojan, Jet, Wolf and Hunter became household names and the format – which originated in the US – travelled to Australia, South Africa, Russia, Finland, Germany, Nigeria, Denmark and Sweden.

When it returned to Sky, airing between 2008-2009, Kirsty Gallacher and Ian Wright took up the baton of hosting duties from original hosts John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson – with original referee John Anderson also returning for the Sky revival.

The new BBC version – which features Gladiators including Nitro, Legend, Sabre, Diamond and Hammer – is hosted by Bradley Walsh and his son Barney.