INTERVIEW
Q: "What is your favourite memory of the show?"
Amazon: "My favourite memory is of the people more than anything, and the supporters who were always great. I got to meet a nice bunch of people and do things you don't often get the chace too.... like a big kids play ground!"
Q: "Who did you get on best with in the team?"
Amazon: "I got on well with Jet and Nightshade, who was a past athlete, and Vogue who joined the same time as me. But Falcon and Panther were lovely girls too, they all were."
Q: "As an olympic swimmer and also acclaimed journalist, do you ever get recognised purely for your days as a Gladiator?"
Amazon: "No, but people do remember Gladiators and still want to talk about the show and the games when they do remember. Especially if the are around their twenties and thirties."
Q: "Did your then-husband, Derek Redmond, leave the show because you did?"
Amazon: "Sort of, he really wanted to be a Gladiator and he was much better than most of them during training, but because he was much smaller the Producers wanted him to put on three stone! He did, but then snapped his achilles during try out so that was the end of that. He wanted it far more than I did which was a real shame as he was very good."
Q: "Were you surprised by the amount of injuries that occured around the time of your competing? Zodiac, Nightshade, Jet, Rhino, Saracen etc..."
Amazon: "I think the games had got quite difficult by the time I joined and more and more was expected of us, to the point where it was dangerous. Several of the Contenders got injured in training before we started but you didn't hear of them so much. Gladiators started to realise getting injured for life was not really an option or a good career choice. I was given the option of coming back but without my knee braise. I was told by a specialist I would walk with a limp forever if I didn't wear one, there was no choice when they said no to it really. Jet did the same I think, and so did Zodiac and Nightshade eventually."
Q: "Did you ever meet Gladiators that did not compete in your series and how did you feel about them?"
Amazon: "Sometimes and they seemed fine. I remember the tall ex-paramedic called Jane (Rio) who was a sweet girl, and later Jennifer (Rebel) another ex-athlete that I knew joined, then later did the Gladiator movie."
Q: "Did you stay in touch with any of the cast and crew?"
Amazon: "I still see and speak to a few and bump into them very occasionally. Mainly the athlete ones though. I have spoken to Jet a few times recently."
Q: "Do you think the name Amazon suited you?"
Amazon: "I was given a choice between Diamond or Amazon. I thought Amazon suited me better as a very tall ex-athlete."
Q: "You started as a presenter on the kids' show Train II Win - how did you get the role of a Gladiator?"
Amazon: "Train II Win came first with Daley Thompson then I was associated because of Derek coaching. They had been asking me for two years before i said 'Yes'."
Q: "On Radio 1's Gladiators Reunion, you named Skytrak and Swingshot as your favourite events, yet you never played them in competition - why was that?"
Amazon: "It was very frustrating during training as you were not always put on the things you were best at during the games themselves. Because I was tall and one of the larger females height wise I always got the Duel type events, but I couldn't use my speed or endurance very well there. Also John Anderson had his favourites by the time I joined to do certain things. I enjoyed Pyramid, but that was the one I got injured on. John and I did not always see eye to eye and I did not miss him when I left. He was a very self righteous man, and not many of us got on with him."
Q: "Did the producers try to 'market' you in any particular way?"
Amazon: "I think I was a plus for some extra PR, which is one of the ways the producers used me but I knew that and that was ok. I was alwasy on the same contract as everyone else."
Q: "What did you think of other newcomers - Rhino, Vogue and Raider - in 1995?"
Amazon: "It was always hard to join the team after the first couple of years but they did well, especially Rhino and Vogue."
Q: "Was there ever anything producers asked you to do which you weren't happy with?"
Amazon: "As I mentioned I would not do the games without knee protection and they said it would ruin the look of my legs for the cameras so my knee came first!"
Q: "You are in the publicity shots for 1996 but do not appear in the series - what happened here? Also is it true that you were to return with a two piece costume?"
Amazon: "I think I had been fitted for a two-piece which was fine as my stomach muscles were probably my best feature."
Q: "Were you disappointed not to appear in the International shows after injuring yourself?"
Amazon: "Yes, i would have liked to have done one International series."
Q: "What, to you, was the most difficult event?"
Amazon: "Certain events got very little practise time because we didn't do them much, that made them difficult because you didn't know them too well. As an athlete I wanted to be the best I could and I found that very frustrating to deal with. I thought Atlaspheres was a bit boring."
Q: "Are you proud to have been involved with the show?"
Amazon: "Yes, I think so, it was a big part of TV history with huge viewing public and people do remember it, but it was a TV show only not the Olympics and I am massively more proud of my swimming achievements which took years of much harder work and slog and skill."
Q: "Do you have a message for your fans?"
Amazon: "Thanks for the support, it is and was appreciated. Stay well guys. Sharron."
