By Jana McCabe
TUATHLAITH Murtagh has described her recent appearance on Gladiators as a ‘dream come true’.
The west Belfast native’s sister put her application in for the reboot of the iconic 1990s show as she believed Tuathlaith would be the perfect competitor.
“Not in a million years did I think that I would be picked. There were thousands and thousands who had applied,” stated Tuathlaith, a fitness instructor.
“As the process was going on and I was getting through each stage, I was thinking ‘they’re going to phone me and tell me I wasn’t getting any further’, but they didn’t and it just snowballed right through until me getting on the actual programme.”
The popular show, hosted by Bradley Walsh and his son Barney, is on BBC One on Saturday evenings.
“When I got the phone call to say that I had made it through – I can’t even explain it. My whole body was shaking, I was sweating, and it was just so surreal,” Tuathlaith added .
“I would like to say I was very prepared to go onto the show, but I like to enter things very unprepared. I once ran the Belfast marathon with four weeks’ notice, and the furthest I had previously run was 10.5 miles.”
The Belfast Ravens football team star player took on Betti Worth from Bolton on the night and, after being defeated in the first game, Tuathlaith impressively won ‘Collision’ to tie the points.
Her talent continued to shine through in the third game as she defeated Gladiator Sabre, making it to the top of the wall before her.
“Sabre was whispering ‘run little girl, run little girl’ while making little growling noises in my ear before the event started. Out of all the events that was the one I definitely sweated the most during,” Tuathlaith admitted.
“I was shocked when I got up the wall. Like I’ve been to ‘clip and climb’ but I’m not a rock climber and Sabre is one of the best Gladiators for that event.
“When I saw I was up against her I thought that there was no way I was getting up this. She is as competitive as I am. You saw her in the dressing room after, she doesn’t like to get beaten so I was really shocked to beat her.”
Tuathlaith secured maximum points during game four, ‘The Edge’, after her skilful footwork saw Fury drop 30-feet, before defeating Athena on ‘Duel’ and remains the only contestant to knock a Gladiator off the podium.
“That was the highlight for me,” the 30-year-old exclaimed.
“That’s the Gladiators’ event. They put that in because they usually win it – it was a really proud moment.
“That was my least favourite event. I thought I’d get knocked off and I thought I’m going to have to put on a smile and pretend that was fantastic when, in actual fact, I would be wishing I lasted longer. So, when I knocked her off, I was completely in shock.
“You saw my dance moves when I did it but, to be fair, I was dancing the whole time. It was a way to calm my nerves.
“I had a lot of people there supporting me which also helped with my nerves including my two nieces who are my absolute world. Before The Ring, when the arena went silent, I heard my little 4-year-old niece shout ‘I love you Tuathlaith’.
“Also to have someone like Bradley Walsh pass you and chat to you is just insane! Like how does he know little old me from west Belfast, and how does he know my name?”
The 30-year-old entered ‘The Eliminator’ with a 13.5 second head start, but a fall in the final section (‘The Travelator’) gave opponent Betty the chance to overtake and secure the quarter-final place.
“To say I was heartbroken about The Eliminator would be an understatement,” Tuathlaith added.
“I cried a lot and even cried rewatching it on Saturday even though I knew what happened.”
The Belfast Ravens, as well as the rest of the NI Womens Football Association community have certainly shown their support for Tuathlaith with streams of social media well-wishes and some of her team-mates making the journey to go see her compete.
“You wouldn’t know I’m part of the Ravens – they’re awfully quiet,” she joked.
“Everyone is super supportive, which is fantastic, but there are a lot of running jokes. Even when I turned up for our football match on the Sunday there, they were saying ‘ohhh Gladiator’s here’ and it’s just a running theme now.
“We’re looking forward to the season at Ravens. We have a lot of new recruits and it’s been great to bond with them during pre-season and let’s hope for a good season ahead.”
