CAST
IAN WRIGHT
PRESENTER
Ian Wright is a former England international professional footballer who won the Golden Boot and is a current television and radio personality. He has played for Crystal Palace, Arsenal, West Ham, Nottingham Forest, Celtic, Burnley and England. He has gained 33 England caps and is one of Arsenal's highest ever goalscorers.
Ian made his TV debut in 1998 with his own chat show 'Friday Night's All Wright'. After retiring from football in 2000 he presented 'Friends Like These' for BBC 1, 'This Is My Moment' for Granada, 'Sing It Your Way' for Carlton and 'An Audience with Lennox Lewis' for LWT. In 2003 he presented 'The National Lottery Wright Ticket' and 'What Kids Really Think' for the BBC. He also became a BBC Sport's regular and football pundit, appearing on live matches for the FA Cup, England internationals and other major tournaments. Nowadays he presents a drive-time show on talkSport four days a week.
Ian was awarded an MBE in 2002 and inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
KIRSTY GALLAGHER
PRESENTER
Kirsty graduated from the London College of Fashion and is the daughter of the former Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher. She went on to work as an editorial assistant for Sky Sports. Her television presenting career started on Sky Sports News and Soccer AM. She then presented her own show 'Kirsty's Home Videos' and 'TV Meltdown' for Sky One as well as becoming one of the original presenters for Channel 4's 'RI:SE' and co-hosting 'Simply The Best' for ITV.
In 2005 Kirsty competed in Channel 4's 'The Games', in which she won gold, and then returned to co-host the next series in 2006. Kirsty has hosted a number of sports shows including Sky One's 'All Star Cup', co-presenting 'Only Fools On Horses' for Sport Relief on the BBC and various shows on BBC's Five Live. She has co-hosted a celebrity boxing match between Ben Shepherd and Lemar for Sport Relief 2008 and is also a regular presenter on The National Lottery (BBC) and the Ant v Dec feature of 'Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Take Away' (ITV1) which actually featured a Gladiators special in 2005.
In December 2006, Kirsty and her boyfriend Paul Sampson celebrated the birth of their first child, Oscar.
JOHN ANDERSON
REFEREE
The man who gets '3, 2, 1' shouted at him wherever he goes began his career as a teacher and he has coached athletes for the Commonwealth Games, European Championships, Olympic Games and World Championships. He was also Director of Training for the Gladiators show.
WILLIAM SHARMAN
TIMEKEEPER
William is the timekeeper for the new series of Gladiators. He is an athlete who has moved away from the decathlon to now focus on the 110m hurdles. His coach is actually none other than John Anderson! Away from sport William is a classically-trained concert pianist and brass band player and was once in the BBC youth band of the year and used to be an air cadet.
ALAN PARRY
COMMENTATOR
Alan is a sports commentator who concentrates on football and athletics. He has commentated for all three main broadcasters of football in the UK - the BBC, ITV and Sky, as well as for both BBC and commercial radio. He is now the commentator for the brand new series of UK Gladiators on Sky One.
