Gladiators.The bodybuilder, real name Jefferson King, quickly became a favourite of the 15 million fans who turned in to watch the ITV show every Saturday alongside presenters Ulrika Jonsson and former England footballer John Fashanu.
The original show ran from 1992 to 2000 but King was axed in 1994 after being accused of taking cocaine in a London nightclub.READ MORE:Gladiators’ Jet shares 'nervous twitch' to keep 'ogling eyes' off her impressive figureThe 61-year-old's life then spiralled into one of drug abuse, culminating in a six-year prison sentence for his part in a blackmail plot.Back in 2015, King spoke openly about how his fortunes had taken a nosedive since he was axed from Gladiators.He revealed how he wasn't invited to a Gladiators reunion in 2015 and was virtually erased from the show's history for taking drugs.He told the Mirror: “I felt like a leper after Gladiators.
I was on the biggest programme there was – bigger than Blind Date and Noel’s House Party. People were rushing home to see Gladiators on a Saturday night."Then after I was fired...
people saw me differently. It felt like I’d had a life and then all of a sudden I didn’t."King was axed from the show after being accused of taking cocaine.
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