Ulrika Jonsson with Gladiators co-host John Fashanu (Image: PA)
has admitted she was “infatuated” with star James Crossley (stage name Hunter) when he appeared on the original ITV version of the show.
The romance heated up way back in the 1990s, when she was a 29-year-old divorcee hosting the show, and he was on it to proudly showcase his body-building skills. While fans’ jaws were agape about his ability to withstand pain, refusing to leave the stage even after severely fracturing his shoulder on one occasion, Ulrika had sparked up a secret fling with him behind the scenes.
She spilled the beans in her 2003 autobiography Honest, before making an admission about their age gap. “I guess I was infatuated with James… It was a physical thing. And what a nice man he turned out to be,” she wrote.
However, she joked to later: “Still can’t believe he was only 22 at the time. Yikes!”
Meanwhile, in the , she claimed that there was a culture of “bed-hopping” on the show, which had paved the way for her fling to begin. “Gladiators was as rock and roll as you can imagine,” she claimed.
She said: “There was a lot of bed-hopping. The producers put them all on one floor in the hotel, which made it easy!”
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Gladiators’ Hunter (real name James Crossley) (Image: ITV)
However, other than bedding Hunter, Ulrika claimed she didn’t get involved in the promiscuity as she was busy learning her lines for the weekly shows.
That said, she did divulge a story about one female star who allegedly had four romps in a single night.
Chatting to Vicky Pattison on her podcast , she revealed that someone else had noticed, exclaiming: “F*****g hell, what was it… you were f*****g five people… coming and going from your room last night!”
“She went, ‘No. Four,'” Ulrika joked, before mischievously adding: “At that point, maybe just stop at ‘No’?”
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Ulrika Jonsson with the original Gladiators team in the 90s (Image: ITV)
Ulrika also told of some on the show having to glue their leotards to their derrieres to avoid exposing more than intended as their costumes were so skimpy.
Despite revealing she was “uncomfortable” with the outfits she was asked to wear, she revealed the show helped her through the intense “highs and lows” she was experiencing at the time.
The host, who later went on to appear on SAS: Who Dares Wins, explained this weekend that she had battled with binge drinking and blackouts in the past – but she has now been sober for four months.
Meanwhile, her fling with Hunter clearly made a lasting impression on her as she was there to wish him luck even decades later when he joined Channel 4 reality show The Circle back in 2021.
She wrote on at the time: “It’s too late at night for me to watch but he can be cute!”
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