A BRAVE Nantwich athlete has taken on the might of the Gladiators and survived to tell the tale.

Father-of-two Ross Kirby, of Audlum Road, is set to make his debut television appearance in the popular series on October 24.

The 29-year-old entered the competition for "a bit of fun" after his wife sent away for the application form, and performed well in front of a big crowd at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.

"It was quite intimidating because there were around 8,000 people watching," he said.

"I lost to a guy called Mika from Birmingham but it was a good competition and I enjoyed it.

"A lot of the 24,000 people who applied are professional sports people. A pro rugby player won in the final and I lost to a champion kick-boxer. I work for a company selling bar coding systems, so I was happy just to get on."

Ross, who trains three times a week at One-on-One Fitness Centre in Crewe, said the most challenging aspect was facing powerhouse Rhino in the Powerball event.

"In the whole series there were only four points scored against him and I got two of them," he said.

"But that's where I lost it. Mika scored 10 points against Ace and that carried through to the eliminator, which was hard.

"It's the nerves as much as anything because it's really intense. Filming takes about four or five hours and by the time the eliminator comes around you are really tired."

He added that he was anxious about watching his performance on screen.

"Hopefully I didn't make a right fool of myself," he said.

"When someone puts a camera and a microphone in your face you tend to talk a load of jibberish. I will be more nervous watching it on television than I was doing the event.

"It might look totally different on TV but I felt good on the day. Though your decision making process goes to pot when you're confronted with a six-foot 15-stone gladiator."

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