Gladiators’ stunning 6ft star Diamond reveals she was picked on for being tall saying ‘I was an outcast’
GLADIATORS' Diamond opened up on how she was bullied for her height when she was growing up.
The TV star whose real name is Livi Sheldon, who is competing in the BBC reboot, said how her height made her feel like an "outcast".
Livi, 29, has been hailed as the new "Jet" and is already a hit with fans of the show.
The bodybuilder who grew up in Worcestershire said that she now sees her height as her "superpower".
"When I was growing up I used to get picked on for being taller than everyone else," she said.
"Now I get to show everyone that being unique is your superpower. I can’t wait to get into the arena and take on the contenders as Diamond."
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She said that she wanted to inspire others to "embrace their uniqueness".
Diamond used to play for a boys' football team before she joined a girls' team and then went on to become the manager.
"I was always the girl who played football with the boys and was seen as a bit of an outcast," she added.
The Gladiator said she wanted to show younger girls that they can still be "bada**" while also being feminine.
Livi said that she felt as though she had been training for the show for her whole life.
"From playing football when I was younger, through to swimming, and then going into bodybuilding. I feel like all of it has led me to this outcome of being a Gladiator."
The BBC show selected Diamond after being impressed by her performance over the weekend.
Fans compared her to original gladiator Jet, who made history on the series in the 1990s.
"Diamond is my new Jet on Gladiators," one fan wrote.
"Gladiators so, viper is wolf, diamond is jet, we've got a replacement Saracen in Phantom (too chatty / happy to be shadow), a few other like for likes. The set up is perfect back in the Sheffield Arena. Loving it!" another added.
A third wrote: "Watching Gladiators on bbc1. What a nostalgic throwback. Fun so far with great presentation. Diamond is definitely this generations Jet! Bradley Walsh presenting like the pro he is! Gladiators."
"Gladiators picking up where the 90s one left off. Whether the likes of Viper, Diamond and Legend capture the imaginations of the great British public the same way Wolf, Jet, Hunter & co did is yet to be seen but it’s a good start," said another.
The show came back onto our screens over the weekend after 23 years.
Early viewing figures suggest a whopping 6.4million saw the BBC’s reboot at its peak.
And they stayed the course, with an average of six million locked in for the whole hour — meaning 38 per cent of all telly viewers were captivated by the Gladiators.
The BBC has done it by leaving almost everything about the show untouched, the only enhancement being in filming quality and technological flourishes.
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