Review: Deaf rugby star Jodie Ounsley’s winning debut as ‘Fury’, TV’s first deaf Gladiator

For those of a certain age, Gladiators brings back nostalgic memories of Saturday afternoons watching ITV, filling the gap between Baywatch and Blind Date. Gladiators like Wolf and Jet became household names, going into battle with everyday people every week.

For deaf viewers, Saturday’s relaunch of the show on BBC1 didn’t just bring back memories, it also brought something new to the table and that was Fury, a deaf Gladiator – the first in the show’s history.

The show couldn’t have made a better choice than Jodie Ounsley, who won the Deaf Sports Personality of the Year 2020 award. Ounsley is a rugby star, currently playing for Exeter Chiefs and is currently Honorary President of UK Deaf Sport.

During lockdown she demonstrated her winning mentality when she wrote this article for Limping Chicken about making the most of the time, and later appeared on BBC News trying out some subtitled glasses during her rugby coaching.

So how did Fury’s first show go?

Well the first noticeable thing is that Ounsley’s character Fury came across initially as being pretty fierce – which might not be a big surprise, considering her name. Fury’s first appearance came about halfway through the show during the Gauntlet round – where she worked with three other Gladiators to stop competitors reaching the end.

Here was our first sighting of her.

At the end of the Gauntlet, we saw Fury flash a sign to camera – ‘I love you.’

The next round was Hang Tough, with Fury going one against one suspended in mid-air on rings attached to ropes. She made quick work of navigating the rings and bringing her competitor down.

Following that event, Ounsley was interviewed on camera, pointing out how scary it is to be so high up on the rings, and giving her opponent credit for getting up there in the first place. We might be biased but she was a natural on camera and clearly had a rapport with her opponent.

All in all, a strong start for Ounsley, and a new deaf role model on TV for deaf kids to aspire to. Plus the show was just as good as I remembered it in the 90s. If you’ve got kids, better book some sofa time on Saturday afternoons from now on.

By Charlie Swinbourne, Editor.

Watch Fury’s debut in Gladiators here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001vfg6/gladiators-series-1-episode-1