Gladiators icon Jet was one of the more sought-after women in the UK when she graced screens every Saturday night – and it’s fair to say she’s had a rather wild life!
The trained gymnastic, dancer and choreographer, real name Diane Youdale, was just 21 when she shot to fame on the gruelling series in the 1990s. As one of the OG Gladiators, Jet became a firm favourite and a pin-up for teenagers up and down the UK. But away from the iconic arena and showbiz world, Jet’s life has not been short of drama – and she’s made plenty of headlines too.
So why did she have to quit Gladiators? When did she marry her wife? And which co-star did she have a fling with? Keep scrolling to find out.
Jet ‘had affair with Gladiators co-star’
It seemed things got rather passionate back in the day on Gladiators as Jet embarked on a hot and heavy romance with her co-star.
Hunter, real name James Crossley, joined the second series in 1993. The pair ended up having a year-long love affair before Diane decided to quit the show.
And apparently, their age-gap may have played a part in their break up. She told Daily Star: “I think he was 19 and I was like 21. I mean I’m being a cougar at 21 but we remained good friends ever since.”
Gladiators star Jet’s life changing injury
Sadly in 1996, Jet’s Gladiators career came to an abrupt end when she cracked her neck on the show. During filming, Jet fell from a giant pyramid and landed awkwardly.
“By the time I hit the floor at the bottom of the pyramid, my head was in the way,” she told Metro. When she landed Jet knew there was a problem with her neck as she “heard that snap before”.
The athlete landed “literally pencil-point down” on the floor and she said she remembers thinking, “have I broken my neck?” as the audience watched on in silence. Jet was rushed to hospital where doctors told her she had compressed her spinal cord. According to her, she was lucky to be alive at all.
After the near-fatal incident, Jet had to retire from Gladiators and went on to step out of the spotlight all together for a new career and went on to train as a psychotherapist and pilates instructor.
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Jet marries woman
In 2023, Diane finally got her happy ending and married Zoe Gilbert – a year after they first met in a supermarket.
Opening up about the moment they met, Diane told Closer: “Zoe came up to me and said: ‘You’re the most beautiful woman I have ever seen,’ and at that point my knees nearly gave way.”
Things got serious pretty quickly for Diane and Zoe. Four months after meeting, Jet popped the question in their kitchen.
Speaking on Lorraine, she revealed: “I asked four months in. It was boring – we were in the kitchen with a glass of wine. I just said shall we do this? I think if you know you know.” And it didn’t take long for the pair to tie the knot. She added to Closer: “We’re married! We kept it very, very quiet. Literally nine people on the planet knew. We wanted to keep it really tiny.”
Gladiators is on BBC One at 5.50pm today (February 10).
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