I went from Gladiators star to $7 million guru and even broke Hollywood but shocked the cast by taking on the ‘obnoxious’ celebrity star

OLYMPIAN, TV star, Hollywood actor and now a multimillionaire; To say Jennifer Stoute has kept herself busy for decades would be an understatement.

But despite his jam-packed CV, Jennifer The actress, who played Rebel in Gladiators 25 years ago, shows no signs of slowing down.

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Speaking to The Sun, Jennifer told how the original ITV show saved her when she was injured and unable to fulfill her Olympic dream, and how her new gig, now worth $7 million, saved her. the series ended suddenly.

He also explains how he attacked the “disgusting” Russell Crowe while acting as a car driver. Hollywood blockbuster Gladiator…before brutally decapitating his character.

Born in Bradford in 1965, Jennifer moved to London when her parents divorced when she was five and lived with her mother and three other siblings.

After moving to Barbados for two years, she returned to London for sixth grade and discovered her love of running.

“I wasn’t a very talented young man; I remember going to school games in London and coming in last,” he said.

“But I had the vision and determination to make the Olympic Games.”

In 1988, Jennifer was selected for the British Olympic team as part of the 4 x 400 meters relay, two years after failing to finish the 200 meters final at the Commonwealth Games.

Although the team finished sixth, he still remembers it as an “iconic” moment in his life and caught the bug.

“I loved every moment of it. “When I felt that, I decided I wanted to go to another Olympic Games, but this time I really wanted to get a medal.”

Four years later, he did just that; He won the Bronze medal in Barcelona with a personal best.

“I remember being 26, 27 years old and actually saying to myself: I don’t know if I’m going to do another Olympic Games because I’ll be 32.

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“I remember putting my t-shirt in my bag before the games started and thinking: There is no way we won’t win the 4v4 relay team and not place third.

“After he got the medal, it was incredible.”

Rebellious Shout

Unable to compete due to a knee injury, Jennifer recalls finding herself at a loss without athletics in her life until Gladiators came along.

“I was in a bit of a bad place,” he recalls.

I remember thinking, I’m a serious athlete, I wouldn’t walk around wearing lycra clothes.

“I thought, ‘What am I going to do? I love athletics, but I can’t throw myself back into it, and I was getting old.’

After being introduced to the show by Olympians-turned-gladiator actors Sharron Davies and Derek Redmond, Jennifer was skeptical at first.

“I remember thinking, I’m a serious athlete, I don’t walk around in lycra; I will not do this show.

“I was talking to a few people in track and field and they said, ‘Jennifer, keep going!’ “Just try it,” they said.

“I trained and prepared myself, and when I went to the audition and was actually cast as the Rebel, wow, I was amazing!”

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She quickly became a fan favorite as the rebellious Jennifer – but her three years on the show brought both physical and mental challenges.

“Every year your body takes a beating and you train to stay fit and strong and always be ahead, that was one of the toughest challenges,” he said.

“I find it very difficult to be such a glamorous person coming from a sports background,” Jeniffer said.

“Makeup was a very flashy thing, but I don’t want that person; I was an athlete. The make-up thing was driving me crazy, I was constantly getting scolded for not wearing make-up.

“They put blue eyeshadow and red lipstick on me and I remember Oprah Winfrey She says black girls with this combination are not the way to go. But there I was.”

Ulrika looked at me and said: ‘Jen, I think we’re out of work.’

“(One of the show directors) “Come on Asi, be more girly!” he would say. Just “What’s girly?” I would answer.

But there was also a lot of laughter in the show.

“When we did Gladiators I didn’t actually know anyone’s name; I just knew their stage names,” he said.

“If someone had asked me, “Oh, what’s the name of Rio?” I said: “Erm… I don’t really know, it was pretty weird!”

‘Disgusting’ A-Lister

With a legion of fans and a fun but challenging role that has made her a familiar face in British living rooms, she was shocked to return from holiday with her host. Ulrika JonssonNews came that the show was ending, leaving them both unemployed.

“I remember Ulrika and I were on a plane and her manager at the time told her that Gladiators was over.

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“He looked at me and said: ‘Jen, I think we’re out of work.’

“‘What!?’ I thought. “I was thinking of returning to athletics, but I was approaching 35 and told myself it was definitely not going to happen.”

Even though it’s been 25 years since the show ended, Jennifer and Ulrika are still close friends and will reunite on the set of Celebs Go Dating in 2022.

The Gladiators TV show was no more – but Hollywood calledand along with other stars of the show Rio and Rocket, Jennifer had an incredible role as the chariot archer in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator.

“They were looking for three black girls,” he recalls. “We were the only three black girls there and we got the part.”

But although he loved his stunt work, he was less impressed by his leading man, Russell Crowe; He was so unimpressed that he finally gave her a piece of his mind, and it almost cost him his job.

“I need to talk to Russell Crowe,” he said. “To be honest, at the time I thought he was a bit too obnoxious. He wanted to race me in the auditorium but I said no, I’m not going to do that.”

“We were all messing around and at the time Ridley didn’t want Russell to do a stunt where he would have to rear the horse. They wanted stuntman Stuart to do it because he was his stunt double – but Russell said “no no no, I want to do it”.

“He literally rears up the horse and shouts: “Come on, guys, what kind of acrobatics show is this?”

As the star turned to shake the hands of everyone watching, Jennifer recalled the moment when she could no longer hide her disappointment.

“Oh my god, you’re so disgusting!” I blurted out. – but I didn’t realize my microphone was still on,” he said.

“I’ve never seen anyone waiting for the crowd to kiss their ass at the same time.

“People heard about it and I was sick; I thought I was in big trouble. I could see Ridley walking towards me and saying you’re out, telling one of our biggest stars you can’t do this. But he shook my hand and kept walking!”

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business guru

While filming Gladiator, Jennifer was also set to audition as a presenter on Don’t Try This At Home alongside Davina McCall, but was unable to try out as filming went out of schedule; it’s something he remembers as one of his own experiences. “biggest regrets.”

“I kicked myself because I really wanted to present, and then I lost the only opportunity I had. So there wasn’t much that emerged after that other than personal experiences.”

Both Gladiators and the movie had ended and Jennifer was in a difficult situation, but it would soon set the stage for a new chapter in her life that would reach millions.

With her (now ex-)husband John, they founded a sports agency with the help of money they had saved from Gladiators and her role in the film, and went “everything” to make the company a success.

“I think when John and I came from athletics, we understood the work ethic to achieve things; our past success was one thing, but our work and determination to build the company was another. We had to give up a lot of things, whether it was spending time with friends, family, or going out.”

But for Jennifer, it was all worth it because of the long-term relationships she was able to build with her athletes; And not just because the company is now worth $7 million.

I want to be bigger and more successful in my sports life than when I was doing Gladiators

“We call ourselves a family because while we have a great bond with our athletes, we don’t take it for granted,” he said.

“Everyone needs to make money. But to be truly successful, you have to be passionate about it, you have to be proud of watching it grow and become something, and you also have to be proud of the people you advise and watch them grow and develop. It’s a world that can be pretty cruel sometimes.”

Jennifer’s children, Alicia (22) and Rene (19), inherited her passion for sports; His younger daughter joined the Great Britain international juniors sponsored by Nike.

So his favorite thing to splash the cash on? A large car, preferably a four-wheel drive car.

“I think it symbolizes the grander lifestyle I’m trying to push myself into. “I want to be bigger and more successful in my sports life than when I was doing Gladiators,” he explained.

He added: “When I go to America I take the biggest four-wheeler I can find – I just love that presence, I feel like I have command of the road.”

He is also excited for Gladiator 2, starring Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal, and revealed that he was contacted by producers at Paramount.

“I would love to get on the red carpet,” she admitted.

“Paramount contacted me and said they could use a clip of my old movie in a car for some of the movies in the theater. If this happens it will be amazing.”

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