Gladiator Sabre says she wants to use her platform on the hit show to inspire young girls. The star, real name Sheli McCoy, 36, reveals her ambition stems from being teased about her athletic appearance at school. She says: “The main reason I joined was to inspire young girls. When they told me there would be a platform to then be inspirational, motivational or educational to a wider audience I said yes.
“Throughout school I was called a man because I was athletic, I had a lower voice. I wanted to be part of that force that led women into understanding their own empowerment. That you can be fit, you can have a six-pack, you can have bigger shoulders than your boyfriend, and that’s OK.
“It’s important to me that women can be unapologetically athletic, they can still be feminine, they can still wear dresses, they can be pretty. I have a teddy bear, and I’m OK with that because I could also kill you.” Raised in Fife, she earned a master’s degree in health science from Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University. She later became a Scottish weightlifting champion in three different weight categories before opening her own gym.
During her interview process, Sabre demanded to know if the rebooted version of Gladiators would be different to the 90s. She says: “I asked how women were going to be perceived. I did say, ‘are women going to be equals in the show?’ I felt in the previous show they were to some degree – but there was still a total narrative around objectifying women at that time.
