MrGTeache(s)Primary

When Vinnie Jones appeared on Gladiators in December 1993, he was still playing for Wimbledon and had a reputation as one of the hardest men in English football. The ITV show had become one of the biggest programmes on television, with ordinary contestants taking on professional bodybuilders and athletes in a series of physical challenges. For a special Boxing Day episode, the producers had invited six sporting celebrities to compete against the Gladiators. There was one Gladiator in particular that Jones wanted to get his hands on. Wolf. He was the show’s resident villain and spent most of his time winding up contestants and arguing with the crowd. Ulrika Jonsson introduced Jones as the “naughty boy of football.” And Jones wasn’t planning to change his reputation for the cameras. “I do like to bend the rules now and then, sometimes it helps us to win and sometimes we don’t get nothing out of it, just a lot of problems.” “I’m not going to play by the rules.” When Ulrika asked which Gladiator he was most looking forward to meeting, Jones already knew his answer. “I heard there’s a little lad here called the Wolf Man?” “I haven’t seen him yet, I think he’s hiding in the toilets.” John Fashanu later remembered the situation as “a recipe for disaster.” “They wanted to go on there and bash each other’s brains out.” Jones was convinced the Gladiators would struggle against proper professional sportsmen. “It’s alright when they are getting these muppets off the street down here and taking them on.” “But they’re taking us on and we’re a little bit fit.” “My game’s running all over the place on a football pitch so I got plenty of stamina and I hope he’s got some as well.” But when the competition started, things weren’t quite going to plan for the Wimbledon hard man. Jones struggled through the opening challenges and was sitting bottom of the leaderboard with just eight points. Then came the event everyone had been waiting for. The Duel. It involved two men standing on raised platforms and trying to knock each other off with large padded sticks. And Jones was finally getting his chance against Wolf. The commentator introduced it as: “The moment everyone had been waiting for.” Before the contest, Jones was asked what would be going through his head when he faced him. “I’m not going to be thinking a lot.” “I’m just going to be thinking about how to do my victory salute.” He was also looking forward to getting face-to-face with Wolf. “He’s going to start staring me out, I’m going to look into his eyes because that’s when you can really tell a lot about somebody.” When the two finally faced each other, the confrontation became more than just a contest with padded sticks. Jones went for Wolf and a brawl broke out, with others having to get involved and pull them apart. But for all his talk before the show, Jones couldn’t turn the confrontation into a victory. He failed to score a single point in the Duel. And when the final scores were announced, Jones had finished dead last with just eight points. Fashanu had finished top with 45 and went on to win the celebrity competition. Jones had arrived promising to break the rules and take on Wolf. He ended up getting into a fight with him and finishing bottom of the leaderboard. #football