For eight years Warren Furman showed his strength as Ace to millions of viewers every Saturday night on ITV.
“It was phenomenal,” he told The Press.
“We were aware we were part of something iconic.”
The now 51-year-old, who lives in London with his wife Dionne, 51, and children Bailey, 20 and Anna, 18, said he entered the show an “unemployed lad from Essex living in a youth hostel”.
But as the series gained popularity, he lived the high life and was engaged to model Katie Price.
“Life was just high octane. I was on top of the world,” he said.
‘I started to believe I was Ace’
Despite the fame and fortune, Warren said the life “had its drawbacks”.
“The more I got the less it satisfied, that became clear quite quickly,” he said.
Celebrity life started to take its toll on him.
“I started to believe I was Ace, that I was better than people,” Warren explained.
He described the life as a “double edged sword” and said there was “no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow”.
Show ending was ‘one of the best things that happened’
Gladiators came to an end in 2000, with Warren finding out from the front of a newspaper.
“It was one of the best things that happened to me,” he admitted.
After the show, he went on a “spiritual search”.
“When that show ended my whole identity came down,” he said.
Former gladiator finds God in York
His search brought him to York.
He studied eastern religions but became interested in Christianity after meeting businessman and philanthropist Julian Richer, the founder of Richer Sounds, who suggested he should go on an Alpha course to explore the Christian faith.
Warren decided to attend one at St Michael Le Belfrey Church, near York Minster, and it eventually led to him becoming a Christian.
On finding his faith, he said: “It was incredible. Before I was always trying to prove myself.
“I had a good life, but I was in a rat race.”
Now he describes himself as a “gladiator for the gospel”.
This summer he will be ordained as a Church of England Cleric at St Paul’s Cathedral, along with his wife Dionne.
The pair met in York and recently worked at the Minster on an alternative placement.
Warren hopes to return to the city which he hails “one of the best” in the world.
Read next: Meet the cast of the Gladiators as BBC confirms start date
The former gladiator continues to run his organisation Ace Active, aiming to use his story to share the gospel in schools and universities.
He described it as “God using the gladiator story to share his truth”.
‘I think it’s phenomenal news’ – former gladiator on show’s return
Gladiators returns to screens at 5.50pm tonight (Saturday, January 13) on BBC One and iPlayer.
“I think it’s phenomenal news. The iconic show is back,” Warren said.
He feels the “digital age has caused division in families” and hopes the show will bring them together.
“I’m hoping that kids will put their devices down and families can come together on a Saturday night, watch the show, and have great times together,” Warren said.
He hopes the new gladiators “will be good role models” to the next generation and added: “I’ll be there with my family cheering them on.”
