Enigma
Gladiators was the highlight of many people’s Saturday nights back in the 1990’s, and when we heard that they were back with a new cast (but the same old John Anderson) we had to get suck in and take on a couple of the scariest people I’ve ever seen wearing lycra.Keen to take on one of the girls, I caught up with 25-year-old Enigma who claims to be mysterious and beautiful, contradictory and unpredictable, impossible to capture. With all these traits I threw a huge net over her and gave her everything I’d got!
Hi Enigma, How are you enjoying life as a Gladiator?
This has been the most fabulous year and life as a Gladiator surpassed all my expectations and it’s the most fun you can have wearing Lycra!
Do you think that this revamped series lives up to the reputation of the original one?
I think it’s better! It’s bigger, badder, faster, more polished, more exiting and there are some real individual characters in there. It’s great to have John Anderson back in there too! We also have the best of both worlds when we have the legends one as the old Gladiators went against the new Gladiators in an hour and half special.
Wow, I need to watch that! So who was your favourite from the original series?
I loved Jet and Hunter. Jet was very beautiful and had great gymnastic ability and I always thought Hunter was a bit of a hottie. But then Wolf was the best character.
How did you come up with the name Enigma?
It’s a funny story actually; Justin Lee Collins from The Friday Night Project is good friends with Richard Wolfe who is the head of Sky One and he was asking Richard to let him name one of us so eventually Richard gave in but all the ones Justin kept coming up with were quite pornographic ones but then he had a dream where the name Enigma came to him.
So Richard said to him that if a dark and mysterious girl came along he would call her Enigma so then I came along and I got Christened Enigma. Then I met Justin Lee Collins and I was like “You’re my dad!” he’s very cool.
Ooh, you’re like the special one then… do you get on with your fellow Gladiators?
We get on really well. It’s like have 12 new, very muscle friends who I get to play in the playground with every day. We train together and support each other through it all, it’s a learning curve that you all go through together. Ice is also my best friend from university.
Wow, that’s awesome, you did a degree in sports and exercise science didn’t you?
I did yes.
Do you originally want to do something else with your career then and what made you decide to be a Gladiator?
I did a personal training course after my degree and I was also and international athlete for Great Britain in the long jump and pentathlon as well as bobsleigh. So after the Olympics had finished I moved to London to pursue my dream of becoming a stuntwoman and actor.
After I moved to London I got a job presenting on a show called Mission Implausible which was like a stunt show and that was my first taste and it just went on from there as I’ve had speaking roles in Eastenders, Spooks and Holby City since then and I was also a sports model. So everything was just going along the right path and then it all came together and I became a Gladiator!
So when you’re not out Gladiatoring what do you like to get up to?
I love shopping and long lunches and nice glasses of red wine. I also love social events and this year I’ve been to Ascot and the Cartier International Polo Day. I also love travelling and we all went to Miami after Gladiators finished. I had sprained my ankle badly in one of the shows so I went out there to recover and relax and then in August I went to Paris for a weekend away.
It all sounds way too much fun to me! Do you think anyone could beat you if you went head-to-head on Gladiators?
I think Panther is unstoppable on Dual.
I like head to head, I want a go at that… but I’d probably be dead after one event! Thanks for speaking to me though.
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison