What's the biggest, baddest star of Gladiators UK doing in New Zealand?
Plus: Sir Anthony Hopkins goes back to the Roman empire, we go back to Beverly Hills 90210, and a new Netflix rom-com that's surprisingly good.
Give me a 90s television show, and I will give you my heart. Gladiators UK was the show to watch on a Saturday night when I was a kid, and it’s bought me great nostalgic joy to see the show revived in 2024. To mark the show’s return, I chatted with original 90s gladiator Wolf (also known as Michael van Wijk, who now lives in New Zealand) about his memories of the hugely popular show. If you prefer your gladiators with less lycra, we’ve also got a new historical drama recommendation, as well as a surprisingly good rom-com movie. Are you not entertained?
As the revival of Gladiators UK lands on TVNZ+, we meet the star of the original 90s series who now calls Aotearoa home.
During the 90s, there was no more exciting show on television than Gladiators UK. It was the fast-paced, high energy British series that saw everyday people take on “superhuman” athletes in a series of brutal and bonkers physical challenges. These brave contenders hung in the air, raced up steep walls and ran through gauntlets in a desperate attempt to prove their physical prowess against the all-powerful gladiators. It was frenetic, it was fierce. It was literally survival of the fittest.
Thirty years later, Gladiators is back, and it’s as much of a cheesy delight as it ever was. This is pure, unbridled entertainment with more muscles than you can shake a pugil stick at, and somehow, the revival feels both fresh and nostalgic. Nearly 10 million British viewers watched the 2024 series, making the show the BBC’s biggest entertainment hit in years.
Nobody knows the power of Gladiators better than Michael van Wijk, aka Wolf, the biggest and baddest star of the original series. Having emigrated to New Zealand nearly two decades ago, van Wijk was busy cooking a hearty meal when I called him to reminisce about his time on one of Britain’s biggest ever TV shows. What exactly does a gladiator eat for lunch? “Chicken, eggs, every vegetable going,” he tells me, his voice warm and friendly and nothing like the scary Wolfman who used to growl at that nice Scottish referee on the TV.
In the early 90s, van Wijk was working in a health club when a client suggested he apply for a new TV show based on the popular series American Gladiators. Having already missed the closing date for applications, van Wijk simply sent in a poster of himself from the cover of computer game Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior. It did the trick. After competing against 800 others in a series of intense fitness trials (“I won every event, except one I came second in”), van Wijk was one of 12 athletes chosen to be Britain’s first ever television gladiators.
At 39, van Wijk was the oldest of the bunch. While his younger colleagues embraced powerful gladiatorial names like Amazon, Vulcan, Cobra and Panther, van Wijk was determined that Wolf would be the show’s big, bad villain. “I thought, what can I do to stand out among these very talented, good looking people? I’ve got to make my character so strong that they've got no choice but to keep bringing it back.”
Initially, the producers were reluctant for the gladiators to have a negative image, but playing the pantomime villain worked a treat for van Wijk. From the very first episode, Wolf trash-talked his competition, broke all the rules and threw tantrum after tantrum, and the crowd couldn’t get enough. They booed his bad behaviour and roared when he was disqualified, giving him a hearty thumbs down with their giant foam fingers. Beneath his terrifying demeanour, van Wijk was delighted. “The result [of the game] was irrelevant. If they were entertained, then they enjoyed themselves.”
There’s no doubt that Wolf’s unpredictable antics helped to make Gladiators a huge hit. Premiering in October 1992, the family-friendly show quickly became appointment viewing every Saturday night in Britain, and at its peak, pulled in an impressive 14 million viewers each week. In an era where there were only four TV channels to choose from, Gladiators was everywhere: action figures, books, CDs and cassettes, T-shirts, collectibles, board games, a children’s TV spinoff and even commemorative clocks.
It all meant instant fame for van Wijk, who suddenly couldn't walk across the street without being mobbed by Gladiators fans. “If I went to the shopping mall, there were hundreds of people who recognised me,” he recalls. That recognition followed him around the world, even during a holiday to Aotearoa. “I went into a gym to buy some protein bars, and a guy said ‘oh, hi Wolf’. I thought, ‘how do you know who I am?’ The show was on here, and I didn’t realise.”
10,000 frenzied fans filled the Gladiator arena for every live show, and Wolf never missed an episode during the show’s eight year run. Even when van Wijk was injured, Gladiator producers wanted him out in the stadium, knowing that people had come especially to see Wolf eat the referee’s yellow card or throw his helmet at the camera or wind up the crowd. It was a role van Wijk was happy to play. “You’re the main character,” he says. “The others just had to accept it. The baddie is number one, because people love a baddie.”
Gladiators ended in 2000, although Wolf returned to the lair in 2008 for a special Gladiators Legends revival. After he packed his lycra leotard away for good, van Wijk took another holiday to New Zealand with his family and decided to stay. He went on to open a series of gyms in Auckland, as well as a Chipmunks Playground, the original gladiatorial arena for preschoolers.
Wolf’s legacy lives on in the Gladiators revival, with new gladiator Viper channeling Wolf’s iconic villain energy. As for van Wijk? Despite no longer having Wolf’s trademark long hair, he’s still recognised in Britain (“the minute I get off the plane,” he chuckles) and the photos on his Instagram suggests the 71-year-old would still thrash any contender in a pugil stick challenge. “Just because the series stopped, doesn’t mean I stopped being an athlete,” van Wijk tells me as we end our chat. I believe him, of course. Who would argue with the big bad Wolf?
Gladiators screens on Thursdays at 7.30pm on TVNZ2 and streams on TVNZ+.
Listen to episode 6 of Juggernaut – ‘Breakup’
The Lange-Douglas relationship frays further as the prime minister pulls the pin on a flat tax package. Douglas is furious as Lange declares it’s time for radical reforms to pause and calls for a “cup of tea.” The two Beehive offices go to war until something gives. Follow now to make sure you get every episode.
Juggernaut was made with the support of NZ On Air.
Why you should watch: Those About To Die (Prime Video)
If you’re in the mood for a sweeping historical epic (with a lot less lycra than the Gladiators UK revival), you won’t go wrong with Those About to Die. Sir Anthony Hopkins stars in this 10-part, big-budget series that explores “a side of ancient Rome never before told: the dirty business of entertaining the masses and giving the mob what they want most – blood and sport.” Directed by Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, Godzilla), all 10 episodes drop today and this review reckons it’s “the best ancient Rome ever seen on screen”. Between this and the upcoming Gladiator sequel, the Roman empire is about to become cool again. Thumbs up all round.
Why you should watch: Beverly Hills 90210 (Prime Video)
Last weekend I was thrilled to discover that all 10 seasons of 90s teen soap Beverly Hills 90210 are now on Prime Video, and even more thrilled to discover that I remembered the spring prom episode from season one almost word for word. Sure, the show hasn’t aged well, but there’s something delicious about diving back into the moody drama of Brenda, Kelly and Dylan while simultaneously wondering how these 30-something actors ever passed for high school students. And the fashion! I can’t get enough. With this week’s sad passing of Shannen Doherty (who played Brenda, champion of a sleeveless vest/tapered jean/heavy fringe combo), there’s no better time for this messy trip down memory lane.
More pop culture links from The Spinoff:
It’s been another cracker of a week on The Traitors NZ, topped off by a terrifying result in this week’s power rankings.
Speaking of The Traitors, I strongly endorse Hera Lindsay Bird’s heartfelt plea to ban celebrities from every single reality TV game show.
My Dream Green Home presenter Rhiannon McCall took us on a delightful trip down TV memory lane this week.
I really enjoyed this piece by Liam Ratana about Daytona Taputu, the most popular Māori on TikTok.
Singer-songwriter Just Janie shares her emotional perfect weekend playlist.
And don’t miss the new shows and movies hitting a streaming service near you this week.
Why you should watch: A Family Affair (Netflix)
There was nothing to suggest A Family Affair would be a good film. A Netflix rom-com starring an odd pairing of leads (Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman) with a cookie-cutter plot about a mum falling in love with her daughter’s famous boss. It looked like a worse version of The Idea of You (Anne Hathaway and not Harry Styles) and even as a rom-com fanatic, I took my time giving it a go. I am here to tell you that it was somehow, inexplicably, really good. Despite neither Efron nor Kidman’s faces moving an inch the entire movie, they had believable and, dare I say it, hot chemistry. The first 15 minutes are the least funny, with a couple of cringe punchlines, but it’s all up from there. Perhaps most importantly, the conflict and conflict resolution are believable and adult (no idiot plots around here) and means A Family Affair feels more like a real movie than most streaming originals (particularly rom-coms). Highly recommend, especially for the ridiculous and hilarious “discovery” scene. / Mad Chapman
Before we pop off…
The Emmy Award nominations were announced yesterday, with the brilliant Shōgun (Disney+) picking up a whopping 25 nominations, and 23 for The Bear.
Season two of acclaimed drama Severance (Apple TV+) finally has a release date: January 17, 2025. Only 182 sleeps to go.
Young New Zealand actor Nell Fisher joins the cast of Stranger Things (Netflix) for the upcoming season five. Fisher also stars in new local film Bookworm (in cinemas August 8) alongside Elijah Wood.
If you enjoyed Supacell (Netflix), this interview with the show’s creator Rapman gives some great insight into the inspiration behind the show – and why it’s really not a superhero drama.
That’s it for Rec Room for this week. If you liked what you read, why not share Rec Room with your friends and whānau.
