Former professional rugby player Jodie Ounsley, now best known as Fury on Gladiators, talks sports fuel, air fryers, and her mum’s ‘top-tier’ cooking. Being an athlete, my meals are so simple. They are just based on what I need for fuel. So I’ve never been like, “Oh, let me get my cookbook out and see what sauces I can have on this.” It’s just been, “Right, that’s a carb, that’s a protein, that’s the veg and vitamins I need in that, whack it together and eat it before training.” When I played rugby, it was particularly strict. [Fury, aka Jodie Ounsley, was a rugby union player for Exeter Chiefs women.] But now I’m a Gladiator, it’s not as full-on: I’m still always eating well, but it will be nice to expand what I eat.
![[Tim Lewis]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2017/10/09/Tim-Lewis,-L.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
I do love all cheesecake. And do you know Tony’s chocolate? They keep bringing weird ones out all the time. I swear I try one of them and then they’ll bring out a new one with pretzels or something. So those are my go-tos. Which of the Gladiators has the most unusual diet? It’s got to be Giant. The amount of food that man eats is crazy. I remember the first training sessions we did, I was honestly blown away: he had these massive baking bowls filled with porridge. And that was just his breakfast! But he’s just burning calories all the time, even when he’s resting, never mind when he’s exercising.
My dad was an MMA fighter, so I’ve grown up in that environment. My mum doesn’t do sport herself, but she helped my dad with his diet so she’s got a great idea of how to fuel athletes. She does really good roasts and yorkshire puddings – those are my top-tier family comfort foods. And on Bonfire Night, she always makes a meat and potato pie. It doesn’t look amazing, but it tastes unreal and it’s proper Yorkshire vibes.
