BBC GLADIATORS WINNER JOSH McDONALD EXPOSES WHAT THEY DIDN’T SHOW

Gully Talks: Well, this is a first for the Gully Talks podcast. We've got our first ever winner of a TV program. He's faced his own adversities. He's smashing through it, much like the T V show that he featured on. You can see the particular trophy which might give away. And more importantly, actually, he's from the south side of Glasgow. It's the winner of Gladiators twenty twenty six. Josh McDonald. Thanks for having me. So Josh, listen, a very, very busy man. Thank you for ⁓ for for joining us on this ⁓ on this Friday. Listen, we've we've got ⁓ an insight, we've saw articles, we've saw plenty of videos ⁓ on you. And more importantly, you brought the trophies. ⁓ it's got it's got some weight to it for sure as well. But yeah, everywhere I go, I take it with me. And there's there's only three reason existence in terms of the the new Yeah, well yeah, the the male winners. So this is ⁓ I'm the third. third male champ. So we've got Finlay season one, ⁓ Joe last year and then myself this year. So it's definitely a prestigious trophy that I'll I'll be keeping very, very close to me. It's absolutely gorgeous. And ⁓ where do you keep it in your your house? I've got like a shelf specifically put up for it in the living room. ⁓ so yeah, it's his it's front and centre in the home. Front and centre, fantastic. Now listen actually you've been here before so ⁓ you you're no stranger to this place but yep. ⁓ the Gladiators, I mean, you you're in in in yourself around a gladiator, you know, Royal Marines and whatnot, and obviously very physically fit. You're doing high rocks and whatnot, we'll get into that, but what made you want to apply for Gladiators? ⁓ well it was actually funny. So I technically didn't even necessarily apply for the show. ⁓ me and my partner Lauren were literally laying on the couch watching like below deck, I think it was, and she got a message from a member of the casting team saying, like, seeing your Instagram account, I think it'd be really good for the show, Gladiators, would you mind applying? ⁓ she doesn't do any cardio. She's really, really fit, really in good shape, but more sort of weight based. ⁓ so she replied and said, I'll definitely apply. My partner is so I'm an elite crossfit athlete. I've been doing functional fitness for the last seven years and have a tracking field background before that. So this is definitely right up my street. So she's just sort of messaged back and was like, Could my boyfriend also apply? ⁓ so then with laying the couch, filled out the application, ⁓ and a couple months down the line, I'm sitting here the twenty twenty six champion. So what what was the timeline on that? ⁓ I think from applying, I think we applied around May. ⁓ and then towards the end of May, you went down to Edinburgh to do like a mini sort of tryout day with other potential contenders. Well a fitness test type. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Done like ⁓ burpees rolling, shuttle runs, a couple of strength tests, and you also got a little bit of like on camera sort of like why do you want to apply for the show? Why would you be good at the show sort of thing? ⁓ so it was basically like an adult P E day. So I was right in my element app so I loved it. Top came off. Bigger spin race. Yeah, it was class. I loved it. My partner Lauren on the other hand wasn't really up our street, too much cardio for her. ⁓ so there was ⁓ I mean they ran them across the UK. So every contender would have gone through them. They had them in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh or up here. So it was definitely quite competitive. ⁓ and then from that they narrowed it down to twenty males, twenty females, and then from that ten and ten for the show. So did you have a sort of incline like in terms obviously the looking at your fitness, but Are they also looking at you know, like a a lot let's say like reality shows, they're looking for a certain character. Was there any like they're they're building into your backstory? Was there any of that sort of stuff? Well, definitely. I mean, ultimately Gladiator is is probably what one of the most physically testing shows out there. Like the the games are no joke, the gladiators are no joke. They're some of them are Olympians, you know what I So you have to be very physically fit to take part in the show and even t consider applying. But as a T V show, there's obviously sort of like certain types of people they would like to get on there. So backstory plays a quite a good part in it. and I and I can sort of see that having went through the process of being on the show now, the the amount of support and the amount of messages I get, not necessarily about winning the show, but about my backstory and about sort of my caring responsibilities for Max and it really resonates with people. So yeah, with any sort of T V show you want to make sure you've sort of got got people that could appeal to different sort of demographics and backgrounds and stuff. So yeah, it was a it was definitely a tough process to get onto the show, but it was so much fun. I w we'll speak about ⁓ young Max and obviously it's been a bit of a landmark day for as well. We'll give him his flowers for that as well. But in terms of y y yourself, ⁓ you know, Royal Marines and like you say, you know, you've you've got various disciplines in in fitness. What w in school, what were you like? Were you just like star performer? ⁓ of course. Yeah, what school did you go to? In Rossall Academy. Right. So we were like Cordonald way. So yeah, I was that guy that took PE a bit too far, like absolutely I would try and skip Maths, English, chemistry, just to get down and do some more. Did the t the teachers knew the the potential? ⁓ yeah, I think so. Well it was funny. One of my P teachers was actually Shout them out. ⁓ Mr Fraser. Mr Fraser. Mr. Fraser. He was my mum's P teacher as well. So he sort of taught my family in a sense and and P and my mum and and Mannies and my entire family really have always been very, very sporty. So I think they knew that there was potential there. ⁓ my brother Ben, so he's a couple of years younger than me. He him as well. He went to Scottish schools and held like records and javelin and stuff like that. So my team my family have always been very, very sporty. ⁓ I was always that guy that was like good at all sport, no matter what, ⁓ volleyball, badminton, swimming, running, rugby, football. I was good at it all. Not necessarily the best at any one discipline, but I could I could play any any sport and play it to a high level. So yeah, PE in school was was my bag for sure. That's great. And then the Royal Marines, when when did this happen? I always I always wanted to be in the services. I always sort of knew that was a path I would be keen to go down. But just with like family life and situation, obviously my mum unfortunately got diagnosed with cancer and she went through a a long sort of process with that. her being a single parent of three three young lads, she was definitely had her hands full. And me being the eldest of the three, I feel like it was sort of my responsibility to sort of support and be there for her as well. ⁓ and of course that's what I wanted to do. So the the army, the Marines, the services, it wasn't really something that I was actively pursuing. But mum's sort of health got to a point where she was a little bit better. She was sort of self sufficient and she was looked as if it was sort of on the mend or she was improving. So I thought, right, I've maybe got a window where I can pursue this goal. So when I was looking at the services and deciding what to do, obviously the the commandos are all Marines. They're like the elite of the elite. ⁓ the UK's top fighting for so that's definitely where I wanted to go. ⁓ the most physically demanding you had to be the the the best physically ⁓ in terms of all your candidacy so applied for the the Marines and then lockdown happened and COVID sort of started which sort of threw off the application process. went down to Limpson and you went through like a four week ROP. So you basically do like admin, basic fizz and stuff like that for four weeks. And then that will filter down the group of lads into the starting troop. So yeah, the the Royal Marine training down in Limpson was it was honestly it was one of the hardest experiences of my life, physically, mentally. Like nothing can put into words just how hard it is, but I strangely loved it. Like I absolutely loved it. Everything about it I loved. Did he did it push it to your breaking point? And beyond. Past it. See see what you think you can physically do? Like they'll get that plus another 50%. Like it's crazy. And I think. That's what's really good around it. Like you don't know what you're capable of doing until you're forced at your limits. So yeah, do the it's no it's no joke down there at all and there's no sugar coating anything. It's this is what needs done. We need to get it done. So it was brutal. It was really, really hard physically and mentally. But again, I strangely loved it. I absolutely loved it. Like I've been in competing in sport my entire life and this seemed to be like the pinnacle of that. ⁓ so I was going through training and then unfortunately the the base sort of had to get closed down just due to COVID. So everyone got sent back home. ⁓ and we were told we would be able to come back in a couple of months. ⁓ but thankfully I managed to get pulled back earlier than expected because I was just super keen to get started. So when the opportunity came back to go down and start training again I done so. Ran through a fair f fair amount of months down there at training. Absolutely loved it. ⁓ and then essentially got to the week before the commando phase starts. So the the roaming train split into sort of like three main sections. So just before I started that last phase, unfortunately my mum's health just deteriorated quite rapidly. I th I suspect it was deteriorating for a while, but she knew how much I was enjoying what I was doing. So as all mums do, they obviously want to see their sons pursue their goals and do do what makes them happy. So I suspect she sort of kept a bit from me, but I it got back to me that she wasn't doing too well and I I I sort of had a decision to make at that point. If you pass out as a commando, ⁓ you get four years sort of minimum service. Caring for Mats comes with a a wide variety of different challenges and I thought if I pass out, I'm s I'm here for four years. Like how does that look for mum? So I had a really, really tough decision to make ⁓ and ultimately I chose to leave the Marines sort of just put that goal to the side and just sort of get back home and and support a mum and and be there for my family. I mean it's it's just incredible hearing, you know, even that was just like a few years ago, but just the challenges that you've had and e even obviously with your mom but just speaking about the the Marines and obviously, you know, ⁓ kinship care of for for young Max as well. And you know, you must have built up a lot of resilience. Yeah. Well that's obviously one of sort of the the mottos when you're in the Marines is sort of mental resilience. And I've been through my and my brothers, my family in general, I've been through a lot of adversity. most of my life there's always there's always been a lot of different challenges there and when mum's health deteriorated and when she first got diagnosed that obviously was just like earth shattering news. Especially for a young age. I I was I must have been around like eighteen at the time. So a y a young lad and Max was obviously very young. My brother Ben was even younger. So I've always sort of had to have like a strong mental attitude because there's a lot of adversity I've always had to deal with. But I feel that the adversity that I've gone through has sort of built me into the man that I am today. I don't think I'd be where I am if I didn't have the level of mental resilience that I do have. ⁓ as I said, mum was a single parent, so as much as I was potentially struggling and the the news and and the situations I was having deal with were really, really tough. I had to be there for my mum and I had to be there for my younger brother. So I didn't have time necessarily to think, worry, get overly upset around it. I just had to to be there. And then be that rock sort of thing. So yeah, it's definitely brought up quite a a high tolerance for adversity, I would say. Yeah, I've have have you had a a chance just to just just to be you and just to process? no. I mean, yes, I know that ⁓ I I'm just I'm a very productive guy. I always like to be forward thinking and forward moving. ⁓ potentially that comes at a detriment of not processing or dealing with certain emotions, but The sun will rise, the sun will set every single day. So we can dwell on the past and we can dwell on the negatives, or we can accept the situation that you're in and strive forward. And that's just kind of my mindset with everything. I always sort of look to the next goal, the next challenge. What what can I do today to make myself one percent better? And with young Max, so today he's got his first sponsorship, is that right? I know. I I honestly I couldn't believe it. So ⁓ it was actually one of my mates who I know through through CrossFit. Max started CrossFit off the back of Gladiators. ⁓ sitting here with the trophy today and being a 2026 champion of the show is obviously a tremendous achievement and one of the highlights of my life. But I would trade the trophy for what I've got with Max now. It's honestly, I can't put into words just how magical that is. He's he's really took inspiration from the show, which is exactly what it's about. It's about inspiring that next generation and inspiring the nation's youth. So from me going on the show. And sort of being part of Gladiators and for him watching it and coming on that journey with me, it really lit a fire in him to pursue exercise fitness. So he started doing CrossFit down in CrossFit Glasgow. ⁓ so he trains with me maybe three times a week in there and he absolutely loves it and it's fantastic. ⁓ so yeah, I've been putting up some stuff on my social media, like Maxie's workout of the day, and one of my mates who has like an apparel brand sort of messaged me and said, like, this is fantastic, good on him. I want to send him some stuff. ⁓ this is a couple of weeks ago. And I was like a real appearance. I mean, that he would be over the moon with it. ⁓ gave him my address. And then yeah, literally yesterday a little parcel came to the door. Max the legend. I was like, Max, you've you've got a delivery, what's this? And gave it to him. He ripped it open like it was Christmas. And yeah, he's got a full gym set in there. He he put it on straight away. ⁓ he he went to the gym first thing this morning on it as well. So yeah, he's absolutely buzzing. So yeah, he's got a sponsorship and I'm I'm yet to get one so far. I think you need to catch up with young Max. I know, he's beaten me. ⁓ I th I think when we look at the the the the final ⁓ episode, you know, a bit that got me was when the V T and Max pops up and I saw, you know, how it made you Yeah, almost got me, almost choked a little bit on that. ⁓ 'cause I didn't what was coming. Yeah, I know, I c I could see that they they sort of landed it on you and obviously it was a I don't know if th that spurred you on more, but ⁓ I mean that must have been crazy seeing that during the final. For sure. So I s Max basically it's a message of Encouragement isn't it? It definitely is. But with Max's autism, he struggles in social situations. ⁓ he's doing a lot better now than he used to. But there's like five thousand people in that stadium and he's front and centre. All the cameras are on him. So it's definitely a heightened environment. ⁓ and he struggled a little bit to deal with it in the heats. Obviously he was down in the heats ⁓ with my family watching at the live ⁓ the live show. But I think it was just a little bit too much for him. So we made decisions to sort of keep him at home so he was in his own space and I would be FaceTime and phoning them and keeping updated. But ⁓ so yeah, I'm assuming on the on the final the team at BBC would have reached out to my brother Ben, who was sort of caring for him while I was down in Sheffield. And ⁓ I'm very grateful to Ben for doing so and for Max for doing so as well because yeah, I didn't I didn't expect it and when I seen his little face on the screen I thought, right, I need to win this now. ⁓ would definitely push me forward. And you absolutely you you did that with flying colours. And so you're your kinship carer for for Max and and in a line, what does that mean? Essentially just means that his guardian ⁓ his guardian's basically responsible for sort of raising him. me, my my uncle Craig, my ⁓ my brother Ben, ⁓ Amante Kelly sort of primarily take responsibility for Max. ⁓ caring for him, raising him, getting him to school, getting him after school, feeding them, clothing him. Like it's just when mum passed away, we just from that second just sort of took it on and we're like, right, who's getting Max to school? And you just sort of with stumbled through it for a little bit. Obviously it's a complete change of circumstances. Like you you have your own individual goals and where you want to go to in life. And essentially it all stops because you now have a 13 year old boy that you need to raise. So ⁓ it was definitely challenging, still is challenging to this day. But ⁓ I'm very grateful for my family. We're we're very sort of close knit and ultimately all that mars is Maxy's happiness. So ⁓ yeah, it's been challenging and and as it still is challenging. But Max is doing so so well. ⁓ he's came on leaps and bounds and for him at the time and when mum passed so young, like the adversity that I've been on and I'm now twenty, twenty-seven, he's fifteen, you know what I mean? So he's he's he's taken on a lot at such a young age, so I'm so sort of proud of how he is just now. Yeah, I was just about to ask how how is he processed that also given his his you know his challenges Yeah, yeah. Well I see autism, ⁓ to be honest, I don't really know if it if it helps. in a sense because maybe there was like a a breakdown of understanding sort of truly what was happening. ⁓ unfort I say unfortunately somebody had to I had to sort of be the one to break the news to him. And I think I struggled to tell it more than he struggled to to receive it sort of thing. ⁓ I don't know if potentially his autism sort of a wall went up or whatever like that, but he's definitely dealt with it. ⁓ it's still something that we all struggle with even to this day. ⁓ Max and Mum were were super, super close, like inseparable best friends. So yeah, ⁓ it's just really, really challenging for Max. And it's it's a shame to see him go without his mum. And I know obviously she she's my mum as well, but like he's so young. He's such a young young boy. Like, no, no child should ever go without a parent, sort of thing. So I know that's why me and my family are just so supportive of Max in any sort of way. Anything needs he needs that we're there because ⁓ Yeah, he's taken on a lot at such a young age and he does it in his stride to honestly. He's he's such an inspiration. He definitely is and he he always looks like a you know, just a joy. Such joy in his face. But what what's the support like in Scotland? Like f you know, ⁓ under these circumstances? With with the term even kinship carer, I I had never heard of that term until after I'd won Gladiators and obviously you're sort of flung into a bit of a spotlight and so the kingship charity I've I've reached out since Gladiators, which I'm extremely grateful for. sort of helped to educate me on. Are they based in Scotland or they So it's it's actually England and Wales. There's no so from my my my talks with them and I understand there's actually no sort of kinship charity based in in Scotland. There's there's nothing really here for it at all. That's incredible. It's it's it's really disappointing. Sorry because just the Scotland are usually very forward thinking with a lot of Yeah yes I've had I've had calls with the charity. again based England and Wales, there's there's nothing up here. They're they're wanting to sort of branch into Scotland but policies, legislation obviously differs in Scotland to to the rest of the UK. So I think there's some hurdles there to try to overcome. With me obviously having this little bit of a of a spotlight at the moment, I think they're keen to sort of use me as sort of like a foothold in Scotland that we can hopefully build a little bit of support around because having gone through this experience and I'm receiving messages on a daily basis from people in a similar situation to me with Max. ⁓ so there's definitely people out there in Scotland that are going through the same struggles that I am. And if I can be just a little bit of Somebody they can look to and ask questions and talk to about. That's that's what I'm here to do. I'm here sort of support as many people as I can. But ⁓ I was never aware of the term at all. ⁓ when mum passed, there was no formal like this is what happens with Max. We ⁓ me and my family all sort of came together and said, Listen, Max is never gonna go anywhere else, you know, we're gonna raise him up and that was just something that we said and agreed upon and from that day on just ran with. ⁓ there seems to be a bit of a definitely a breakdown, lack of information. I'm not too sure what it is, but yeah, I'd never heard the term. I just my mum passed, I've got a young brother and now we need to raise him. It was as black and white as that. ⁓ it's not until recently that I've actually heard that there's there's terms and there's potentially support and all that available. It was ne never communicated to us. Yeah, I I it's actually incredible just hearing that. Well mostly from the perspective, of course, it's you know, it's very much like, yeah. Max's, you know, family of course, but when they all pull together, you're you're working your way through it, but just that there's no sort of, you know, s ⁓ guidelines maybe not the the right word, but illegal. Guidance. Yeah, literally Ma Max was working ⁓ with Cams for for a lot of sort of his his his sort of teenage years. Cams? ⁓ yeah, I I don't know the actual terminal. Essentially it's the the group that sort of helps With his autism. Okay. ⁓ so there's I think under the Cam's umbrella, there's like funding support, there's like ⁓ psychology support, emotional support. Mum used to work very closely with Cams to help deal with Max's autism. so I think in that initial stage, we sort of leaned on them to be like, right, what do we do? Like what what funding was Mum receiving with Max? Like what what can we potentially get to help support Max? What's his current care package? Like we were very much chasing our tail and trying to gather all the information that we could. and again that was down to us to try and make that first step and and and have that conversation. There was no sort of like this is your options. We just had to sort of source everything ourselves. Wow. Yeah. So it was stressful, stressful ordeal. Thankfully my Uncle Craig primarily took over that side of things. He deals with all the stressful meetings. ⁓ me and my brother Ben deal with stressful max. Yeah, no, it's in the Family are pulling together, you know, you're a really solid unit, obviously. And where does Ben fit into all this? Yes, he is. Same as myself, yeah. So he's a couple of years younger as well. Yeah. He's studying or is I think he's twenty-five, yeah. So hopefully hopefully I've got that right. Ben I think he's twenty-five. ⁓ he's been working full time since he was like fifteen. So he's he's a graph, he's been working full time sixty hour weeks nonstop. So yeah, he's exact same as me. ⁓ me and Ben sort of like split the week between us. ⁓ I usually have Max on like a Monday and a Thursday night, he will have Max or a Tuesday and a Wednesday and then we'll sort of split the weekends. Moncle Craig, who has Max just now, thank you very much, Craig. Matt Nikelli will jump in at the weekends as well and and help him out. So we all just sort of chip in and help each other. and again we couldn't do it without any one of us. So we're we're very grateful for each other. ⁓ absolutely and what listen we're looking forward to seeing Max's journey or continuing to see it on the I know, I fitter than Me soon, I think. Yeah, yeah, exactly. He'll be on the the next ⁓ season of of Gladiators of Gladiators, yeah. But i I mean it it very much feels like, you know, you your story, these things were all meant to happen because obviously yes, you're a winner at Glad Gladiators. I know you said you would trade the trophy, you know, for for the for the happiness of of Max, but you're now like almost like a a flag bearer Yeah. You know, for let's let's see, raising awareness about being a kinship carer and hundred percent. Which I still think it's incredible. It's madness. Yeah. I've always sort of went through life never saying no. Like I'll always take any opportunity that comes away because you don't know what it could lead to. So yeah, that this situation that I'm in just now and even having this discussion with yourself about kinship care, it's not something I would have ever been able to f forecast or plan for or see. ⁓ it's very much just taking any opportunity that comes in and see what it leads to. And yeah, from winning gladiators has been obviously a massive amount of awareness sort of around myself, directly correlated to the show. But through my my time on the show and my discussions and my story coming out, it's now led to multiple different avenues, a lot of which are situated around care. Like hopefully I'm gonna be doing some stuff with like children's hospital. ⁓ I've got some like school initiatives and stuff like that I want to be doing as well. So And then yeah, I've got a potentially going to be an ambassador for the kingship charity as well. So it's definitely from something as winning Gladiators has opened up all these other doors, ⁓ which will hopefully then allow me to sort of support people that are going through similar s sort of situations to myself. Yeah, 'cause some of the competitors that you ⁓ we saw on Gladiators, everyone's got a b ⁓ not everyone, but there's a lot of people that do have a backstory. Yeah. Out of their own challenges and and that they're going on there. Not to exercise exercising demons is not the right, you know, is not the right explanation but they're I don't maybe maybe maybe they're just dealing with something that they feel like this this platform they can they can sort of let go of in a way. Well, I think it's just yeah, and I would agree. It's like everyone obviously behind no one knows what goes on behind closed doors. Everyone's probably dealing with something. ⁓ I feel like sport and exercise for a lot of people nowadays is an outlet for those demons and and to sort of vent any sort of frustration or or emotions and a show like Gladiators As the elite of the elite to even apply to go on that show, you need to be very physically sort of capable. for me, my outlet with dealing with any sort of like stress and anxiety is to go to the gym and sort of I was just about to ask, how do you decompress? The gym. The gym, the gym, that's my decompression. ⁓ when you're in the gym and when you're exercising and when you're working out, you're not focusing on anything else. ⁓ Mass Sports CrossFit, which is incredibly challenging in and itself. You're essentially killing your body off each day you go into the gym. So when you're in that much physical pain, you can't focus or worry about anything else. All you can focus on is that moment. So ⁓ yeah there was obviously a lot of containers on gladiators that had their own sort of adversity and challenges they were going through in life and potentially for those individuals, the gym was also their outlet. and gladiators is such a a unifying experience everyone from gladiators that we'd never met each other at all until we were on the show. ⁓ but it just pulls like minded people together ⁓ everyone's got their own reasons for applying to be on the show. ⁓ everyone's got their own demons to overcome. And yeah, it just really brought a good crew of people together. When you're in the the the final and you and you're competing and you know what's at stake, yeah. Again, you know, all all those other thoughts go out the window because you are you're there, you've got a a a crowd and you know, how how do you how do you how did you sort of gear yourself through that? This podcast is sponsored by Superhard. Did you know one in five men in the UK suffer from erectile dysfunction? Stress, age, lifestyle, it creeps up on you. But here's the thing it doesn't have to hold you back. Super hard is the UK's most powerful ED formula. Here's what it does harder, stronger erections when you need them the most. Longer lasting performance, it goes further every time. And you've got boosted arousal and blood flow. Clinically proven ingredients to actually work. You can take your relationship to the next level and give your partner the experience they deserve. 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She She takes on a lot of stuff so I can focus on on sport and on competing. So and my family as well. Obviously, Max wasn't down at the at the shows in Sheffield. And my my brother Ben sort of took on the responsibility of making sure Max was okay while I was away. So he took that ⁓ worry away from us. I didn't have to worry about what was going on with Max. Is Max okay? 'cause I knew he was with Ben, so was fine. And then we were down in Sheffield, my partner Lauren was there for every episode, Matt Nikelli as well, so they were dealing with any other issues so I could solely focus on the task at hand. So I'm very grateful for my support network and for that team Josh Army because without them being in at the live shows and helping me deal with other stuff so I could solely focus on the show, like I I definitely wouldn't have been able to win it without them. Definitely. I think you you you've landed back in And Giffnook and I said at the top of the show, I'm I'm at the South Sider, so a lot of love for Giffnook. Yeah, a lot of people now that are just coming up to you and Yeah, it's been insane. Obviously, the support around the South Side has been fantastic. I actually had a a meet and greet in the gym in Clarkson, Anytime Fitness, which is one of the three gyms that I sort of run. and the queue was wrapped around the building. We had planned to do like a meet and greet because a lot of Anytime Fitness is such like a member centric facility. ⁓ the staff know the members, members know the staff. It's a real community in there. So having one gladiators, ⁓ obviously all the members are coming up and congratulating me. And the first thing anyone says to me about gladiators is, ⁓ my kids or my son or my daughter love the show sort of thing. So with a lot of members sort of saying that I thought it'd be quite good if they could bring their kids up and we could we could see the trophy and we could chat about gladiators and stuff. So we planned a bit of a meet and greet that which was going to be like an hour long. And then I was going to do like a kids class after which I would lead and we could do some functional fitness. The meet and greet The class had to be cancelled 'cause the meeting greet was just so busy. It took two hours just to get through the queue, which I'm extremely grateful for and sorry to anyone that was in the queue for that long. But yeah, it was crazy just seeing all these kids coming up and just they're so ecstatic about the show. It's you don't realise until afterwards just the impact that it has and how much people invested in it. So Yeah, it's yeah, the the support in the Southside has been top top tier. Saturday night prime time T Vincent. Yeah, it's unreal. T V show foot from the nineties. It's been rejuvenated, brought Up to, you know, modern standards and the competitors as well. They're all very they were all always very personality driven, but it's much like, you know, you look at WWE, you look at boxing now, personas really important. ⁓ 100% characters. Who who is it that you enjoyed meeting in terms of the the the The Gladiators? I mean they'll see the thing is as you said, they're all such different characters, so they all have a different sort of pull to them. But legend was the one that I wanted to go up against from the start. Like he's that sort of like cocky, arrogant, godlike. gladiator that you just want to knock down a peg or two. Yeah. Thankfully I did. I knocked him down definitely more than a peg or two. But he was the one that was definitely ⁓ so like wanting to go up against. But all the gladiators are amazing. Like but nitrals are an Olympic sprinter, a giant who's like seven foot and built at a house. Like you want to go up against the biggest and you want to go up against the best. And all the gladiators on the show are such elite athletes that you're almost honored to be battling them. Even Zach George so so steel He he's been at CrossFit game, so like he's the elitist of the sport that I compete in. He's somebody that I would go and inspect to and be like, Wow, I wish I could be like him. So to go up against them face to face was was a dream come true. And you you're perf ⁓ competing in various Hyrux competitions. Hyrux is a buzzword, right? Because it's it's very much on the the cusp of of of trending topics on social media. Yeah, yeah, yeah. ⁓ we'll talk about your your achievements. Is what was the what's the buzz about Hyrux? I think the buzz about Hyrox is that it's it's for everyone. Anyone can do a Hyrox. It's obviously very like aesthetic. It's been marketed very, very well. Obviously, a of people take their tops off, the guys take their tops off. And I'm guilty of that, yes. It's hot in there, it's roasting. ⁓ but yeah, I think it's been marketed well. I think it's very aesthetic ⁓ when you look at sort of the social media presence and all that around Hyrox. But Hyrox is so accessible, anyone can do a Hyrox. My my first one that I did in Stockholm going back a couple of years ago. My perception of Hyrox was just what you see in social media, like shirts off, everyone's going rapid. And that was what I thought Hyrox was. And it wasn't until I done my first one where you actually see there's people walking the case. Like anyone can do a Hyrox. You can you can walk, you can run, you can sprint, it doesn't really matter. And why I think it's so popular is that it's you versus you. There's obviously thousands of people competing at any one event, but When you start and then when you cross the line you've got your name on the board next to a time and it's so individual and it gives you something to work to improve upon, which I think is really, really important and and really good. People can actively progress and train to improve their own time ⁓ regardless of what anyone else does, it's you versus you. The fitness industry feels like maybe because of social media as well, it just feels like it's on a A sort of area that it's never been in before, you know, there's the the you know, see plenty of supplements getting advertised. Obviously, a lot of people maybe ordinarily who weren't, you know, ⁓ in in certain sectors are are competing, yeah, trying to do personal best, it's them versus them. Yeah. Do you think that's all down? ⁓ is social media? Is that the Yeah, I think it's I think social media now with with everything is is such a driving force. ⁓ it's definitely like an attention era that we're in and then an attractiveness era that we're in everyone wants to have the the most aesthetic product and have the biggest marketing campaigns and stuff like that as well. But ultimately I think when you really break it down, no matter how good something looks on social media, it's never going to be sustainable if it's not effective. And the thing is with HyROX is that it is really effective. People can go from never taking part in sport in their life and and what HyRox does really well, it gives you that like athlete feel to it. ⁓ I said I've been competing in sport entire life but I've got clients say that they want to take part in HyROX and they get that sort of athlete experience. They get to go and to athlete registration. They've got a designated warm-up area. They're out on the competition floor with thousands of people sort of watching. So regardless of your time, ability or experience, everyone that steps out onto HyROX floor feels like an athlete in that moment, which I think is really powerful. ⁓ and it's definitely addictive. Like as I said, I've I've competed in a couple of high rocks and I've got a couple more booked in. I would never say it's my main sport, CrossFit's my main sport, and it always will be. ⁓ but every time I compete in a hierarchy I'm like, God, I I want to do another one now. It's quite addictive. I do ⁓ know a few people that are, you know, sort of dotted round Europe, like obviously they're based in Glasgow, but like, yeah, we just booked ⁓ before it would have been like, Yeah, yeah, we just but we've got a stag do in Barcelona now. It's like yeah, we're going to, you know, X, Y, and Z, we've got one in Latvia, we've got one in Barcelona. And that that's the thing as well, I think it's quite good about Hy Rocks or just sport in general, it's sports seems to be coming a lot more social. Like you've got run clubs now. Like everyone's going to a run club on a Sunday morning and going for a coffee. Like I know when I was growing up, I used to be you would go to the pub or you would go to the parking drink at the weekend. But now everyone's like going to the gym or they're going for a run. ⁓ yeah, instead of going like a lads' holiday, like I beefa, you're going on a lads hol holiday to Helsinki, which is where I'm going in a couple of weeks to compete in a Hy Rocks event. So Definitely sport is becoming a lot more social. Potentially that's off the back of hierarchies as well. But I think it's so powerful. Like I couldn't tell you the last time I was on like a night out and nor would I want to if I'm wanting to see my mates, we're gonna go and get around a golf, or we're gonna go to the gym, or we're gonna go for a run, get some scrun afterwards. It's interesting you say that. It does feel like people have doubled down ⁓ in where they're spending their money now as well. Because people could see ⁓ cost of living, but people have still got, you know, d disposable income, maybe not to the levels of before, but it it This generation it's interesting because people would ordinarily have you know, especially in Glasgow, you know, just out Friday, Saturday, Sunday blood, you know. And now, like you say, you know, a l a lot more younger people are probably joining golf clubs. Yep. Yeah. ⁓ I can't even play golf to save my life anything. Nor can I, but I still play it. I just try to get once a week just 'cause it's fun. You're outside with your mates. You're outside your mates. It does it does feel like, you know, you used to watch it in the movies all the time. You'd have Imported meetings out on the golf course. I think now ⁓ it's yeah, like peop peop people have just redirected where they are their money goes in. We all want to connect, ⁓ we we people and I think pr probab actually just also as well, just on hierarchs, where does the stick come from? Because a lot of people are are ⁓ I on social media, you know, especially when it's ⁓ in Glasgow, you see like the Glasgow feed on on X or Twitter and the people will just be, you know, lambasting people and they'll just be really gunning for them. What in terms of like people competing in Hyrux? Yeah, they'll like, ⁓ you know, tell me your you know Yeah, well I think it's I mean I I see it from both sides 'cause yeah, I compete in Hyrux, but I'm not a Hyrux athlete. I'm not It's like run clubs, for example. Buzzwords right now, matcha, run clubs, people just take it too far, I think as well. Like you see everyone now and not the this like everyone's got the boat for athlete bags, they've got all their patches and ⁓ everyone's like What's your splits? It's it seems to be I f I feel like the the group of people that you're referring to that are so high rox focused and orientated, it's like their entire personalities. And don't get me wrong, like sport and exercise is a big part of my life, but it's not the only thing I do. I'll go out and play golf my mates and I'll go for dinner with my with my partner and I'll I'll play Mario Kutter Max. But there's there is definitely and I can see it, there's a there's a group of people that are so fixated on the sport that it just consumes everything. And ultimately, like, unless you're in the Elite 15 and you're one of the best in the world and you can afford to relax a little bit. Like we're all here to have fun. We're all here to improve ourselves, don't get me wrong. But I mean, I'm I'm good at high rocks. I've I've got a flag and it doesn't consume my entire life. Yeah, I I think the I think it's all about belonging as as well. Like I'm I'm out usually doing a lot of ⁓ content creation and speaking to a lot of football fans and see specifically what it means to football fans to be ⁓ supporting your team, singing the song. Every conversation, people come up to me, who do you think's gonna win the league? You know, we'll talk about f you can talk to anyone in Glasgow about you know, specifically about Glasgow. But I this is not even me sort of ⁓ you know, I'd I'd love to be I've never done a hierarchy. So maybe it's something I would I would like to do, but I'm g get use my personal training. But a lot of people, ⁓ like you say, they can be they can be consumed by it, but maybe it's just a bit of sense of belonging. Yeah, it's community. I mean CrossFit gets used I don't know if it SLSL does, maybe 'cause I'm in it, I don't see it, but it used to be very like culty. Like if you're part of like a cult, CrossFit cultural. I suppose match are part of a cult. But ⁓ yeah, I think that is a little bit with Hyrox. It's like if you're a Hyrox athlete, like all your mates are Hyrox, your girlfriend does Hyrocks, you only wear gym gear, athlete buy, like it's very culty. There is people like that, don't get me wrong. ⁓ but it's not it's not the entire sport, it's not what it's all about. ⁓ I think that's a little bit just because Hyrux is so popular just now. You can't go on your Instagram or TikTok without seeing something about Hyrox. So it seems to be just like overload Hyrox, Hyrox, Hyrox, which is what I think feeds into that cult mentality. But ⁓ not everyone that does a Hyrox is a a hybrid rock star by any means. Some people are out there just to have fun, go on a holiday with our mate, fling a high rocks race in there, maybe try and improve on their time if they want. But ⁓ yeah, and then you'd have the other ends which push it a bit too far. Yeah. With regards to to social media, that's oft ⁓ as we just said, that's often where you'll see people's achievements because, you know, it's like their their C V now, you know, Yeah, that that's exactly what Instagram is. Well w which is great because, you know, again, people on a Sunday now are are going running and whatnot, they're not they're not hung over. But ⁓ is there such thing as the as the the the perfect athlete? Because you will see a lot of pages maybe set up bigger bigger craters or whatever and you know, they've got all their the recipes laid out, you know, they've got their ⁓ Yeah. you know, physically ⁓ aesthetic shots, but how how realistic is all that? See the thing is with Instagram as well and I've I've always say always had an Instagram page ⁓ and now with sort of my awareness around gladiators, yeah, I'm I'm paying a little bit more attention to it because it is sort of like a C V. ⁓ it's a way for anyone to get to know and understand you as a bit of a person. But I think it's very important to sort of hit home that comparison's the thief of joy and Instagram and social media is like a highlight wheel. It's very rare that somebody puts up a video of them failing on social Josh, in terms of that so that process, so you get through and and you and you're chosen and then then what what's the next stage? So the next stage is you're I think people sort of think that you get to practice and prepare for the shows. Like you honestly do not. The first time you do that the the games that you see on the show hang tough the wall is essentially when you're out there in front of the crowd. We do have a little bit of a training day in Sheffield. ⁓ a couple of days in Sheffield before the show airs and you get to just try all of the games, it's not to improve your performance on those games or to learn how to do it. It's just to see if you can physically do it. Because the challenges are some of them are really, really high and some of them take quite a specialized skill. Like hang tough. Not everyone can swing from rings like that way. So it's more just seeing, right, can Josh physically take part in these games? And then if he can, we tick it off and move on to the next one. So you don't get to go and practice it and prepare and learn it, it's just can you do it? So then the next time you do it, and pretty much the first time you do it is when you're in front of five thousand people in the Sheffield arena with all these cameras and you're facing a gladiator. So you definitely are flung in at the deep end, which is quite nerve wracking. ⁓ and with a lot of the games, the longest is sixty seconds. Some of them can be over as quick as ten seconds. So it comes down to split second decisions. So it's more than just the physicality of it, it's your tactics and decision making. What was your the hardest challenge that you took part on the stage. Do you know what it is? I didn't really find any of them too challenging. As I said, I'm I'm very confident in my physical abilities. I know I can do anything and and I back myself against any of the gladiators and and containers I went up against as much as everyone's fantastic and and really, really good. I always back myself. The biggest the game that gave me the biggest problem was the wall, frustratingly, because it was actually one of the ones that I should have done best at when we went down to Sheffield and we practiced out. I was Flying up the wall. Like I w ⁓ the wall was no issues for me. And when I was back in Glasgow, I went to a rock climbing centre ⁓ in the south side and and was practicing as well. So the one at Canning Park? Yeah. Yeah. So I was prepped for it. I thought if the wall comes up, ten points in the bag. Yeah, yeah. If you haven't watched it, go watch it. Every time I'd on that wall, I made a mistake. Every single time. To the point where I actually dreaded taking part in it because I thought, God, I'm just so nervous at making the mistake again. So Is that where the the the they're chasing after you up the wall? Yeah, yeah, you get literally what feels like a half a second head starts. Obviously longer than that. You you have to scale the wall and get to the top. If you get up there first, you get ten s ten points. If you get up there second, you get five points. Gladiator's trying to pull you off, no points. ⁓ I got up the wall, thankfully, ⁓ when I was up against Hammer. But if I had Nitro on that wall, obviously he's he's a whippet. You think he's fast on land, he he's just as fast going off a wall, it's insane. So Yeah, the wall gave me a lot of problems, frustratingly. Listen, it seems like you ⁓ you compete with any challenge ⁓ really well. ⁓ what what is it called? The travelator Travelator, yeah, the dreaded travelator, yeah. Especially when you think, ⁓ they've got it and then you know, for any competitor, it's almost like it's in slow motion. ⁓ it feels like Is that how it feels? It feels like it's hard it feels slow motion and over in a blink of an eye, if that makes sense. It's such like it's so quick, but when you're on it, y you feels like you're running out for ages. It's hard to sort of get across when you're watching it. From the comfort of your own home. Just how steep it is, it's really steep and it's also super, super fast. But as I said, I come from a track background and I'm very quick and I back myself in any foot race. But there's a technique to it. If you don't sort of get your first foot in correctly, it it just spits you out. That's a great week. Literally spits you out, yeah, yeah. You'll see it in my heat. Obviously, unfortunately I I lost my heat against Finn who absolutely smashed it. I hit the traveler first and just got my foot in wrong and it just catapulted me back. ⁓ but after I made that mistake once I'd I'd never made it again. and I think the travelator and the eliminator overall was one of the games I performed best at and I think heavily led to me winning the show overall. That's perfect.