From England Rugby to the NFL to BBC’s Gladiators: How One Elite Sporting Journey Perfectly Prepared a Rising Star for the Ultimate TV Challenge
ALEX GRAY has walked one of the most unique paths in professional sports.
The Durham athlete, 34, has played two different sports at the top level, starring for Premiership Rugby sides and England Sevens in his career as a number eight, before making the switch to the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons in 2017 as a tight end.
Alex Gray stars in Gladiators under the name Apollo
He was once the first rugby star to try his hand at professional American Football
He was one of the first players to brave the International Player Pathway that today allows non-Americans to try their hand at making it big in the NFL, including the likes of Efe Obada and fellow rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit.
But now the 6ft 5in star is best known for his role on British screens, starring in the BBC’s rebooted 90s classic Gladiators, taking up the alter-ego of Apollo.
Going from battling in the scrum to battering game show glory hopefuls sounds like quite the jump, but Gray revealed how his sporting journey actually prepared him ideally for the small screen.
He told SunSport: “I think if you look at the entertainment value of the players involved in the NFL, it’s probably the perfect kind of transition, right?
“Rugby players are very clean cut, straight down the camera. ‘Good game. We’ll try harder, we’ll go home and learn our lessons.’ You hear the same interview time after time.
“Then you step into the NFL, where people are a little bit more outspoken about things, sometimes they get political, whatever it is, they have these things they want to talk about.
“Sometimes they’re a bit shirty with the press and it’s a bit spiky, and there’s just a bit more flavor and personality to it. There’s a lot of trash talking that goes on the field as well, into the cameras and everything.
“So I kind of went from rugby to the NFL, and experienced all of that, and then have come into the entertainment world.”
Gray enjoyed a career with a number of top rugby union sides and England Sevens
Gray spent three years with the Falcons while trying to adapt to a new sport and culture, but ultimately did not make an appearance in a regular-season NFL game.
He returned to more familiar ground after being released in 2020, joining up with Bath Rugby for a six-game stint before once again becoming a free agent.
But in early 2024, Gray was handed the chance to once again take a leap of faith and try his hand at something new – debuting as part of the new cast of classic BBC gameshow Gladiators.
It was here that he’d put lessons he learned throughout his career both on and off the pitch to good use, starting with creating his new identity – Apollo.
He said: “What I kind of found I had to do a little bit, was I kind of reverted to type at the very start.
“I got probably halfway through season one of Gladiators, and I was giving the classic sportsperson answer, ‘well done to the contenders. They were great. I was just a little bit better today.’
“And I was thinking ‘I wasn’t just a little bit better, I just absolutely smashed this guy!’ I’m on national TV on Saturday nights. I was like ‘I am capable, the people want more. I need to grow into that space.’
“So I’ve been very conscious of doing that in trying to find a character with Apollo, and leaning into that a little bit.
“We’re not actors, but I think the entertainment element of gladiators is a massive part of it, it’s what makes you stick in the minds of the kids and the mums and the dads and everyone watching it, right?
“So I love the fact that I could play really hard, play a really good game, and do what I’ve always done and love competing.
Gray is one of a number of physical giants ready to stop contestants in the popular show
Gray (left) says that despite his heel persona, he feels the support from everyone when he performs
“And then I love the fact that I can come off and have 15 seconds and make someone in front of their TV smile or laugh, or hopefully not cry!”
Gray is now in his third season of the show, and has developed a following unlike any he has had before in his sporting career.
He boasts almost 35,000 followers on Instagram on his own account, but that number is outdone by the tally held by his own character Apollo, surpassing 36,000 on the site.
While there might be certain trends within those numbers, what struck Gray is how universal the support for his role has been.
He joked with a grin: “You kind of cut across all demographics a little bit with Gladiators. Look, I can’t lie and say, for whatever reason, there hasn’t been an uptick in the mums loving a little bit of Apollo.
“I must be doing a good job at something. I don’t know if it’s spandex or it’s the chat or whatever it is.
“But I find for me, it’s a show for everybody.
“What I’ve what I’ve found is when I was a rugby player, when I was in the NFL, you were kind of segmented to your little hot spots – in the country and also in the social media sphere of people who love the sport – and then no one else really [cares].
“But in Gladiators, everyone knows about it, everyone enjoys it, and everyone’s super supportive.
“Every time we come on TV, it feels like I’m representing England again, and everyone wants us to win at the World Cup or whatever.
“It feels like we’re kind of the country’s TV show, and everyone’s behind us, because everyone loved it back in the 90s, and everyone wants their kids to have the same experience they had.
“It makes it worthwhile throwing yourself off a 20 meter platform head first.”
