Tomorrow night’s episode of BBC One’s Gladiators will see Bionic – real name Matty Campbell – make his debut – and it’s something he’s spent his whole life preparing for.
When he was younger Matty was involved in a car accident which meant he was spending more time in the gym for physio.
This led to him developing an “addiction” to body building and he’s using the discipline that comes with it in his new chapter as Bionic.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, he said: “I’ve had a lot of injuries in the past, I’ve torn biceps and things, and I always come back very quickly and surprise doctors left, right and centre.
“All of that and my 6ft 6in height got me the name Bionic. I’m never scared of getting hurt – we’re there to entertain and it’s part and parcel of being Gladiators.
“The injuries I had [from the car accident] led me into the gym to do my rehab and stuff and from there I got into bodybuilding and I got addicted very quickly. The rest is history and I’ve never looked back.”
Of course to be a Gladiator you need to be competitive and Bionic says losing is not an option.
He continued: “I’ve always hated losing. Bionic has no competition.”
You’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s all egos and ambition backstage at Gladiators.
But Bionic says the new generation have formed friendships so strong it’s “scary”.
He said: “When you’ve got a group of 16 people at first you would think that not everyone would get along.
“But we’ve all gelled. It’s scary how close we all are. I didn’t expect to form friendships with every single one of them and especially Phantom in particular – we really vibe off of each other.”
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