Gladiators star Rhino spoke of his horror when he suffered a devastating injury to his knee.
Rhino, real name Mark Smith, soared to fame when he first appeared on Gladiators during its fourth series in 1995. The hit ITV show, which ran from 1992 to January 2000, saw contenders take on gladiators in a number of gruelling challenges which pushed their physical skills to the limit.
During his first year, Rhino was taking part in Pyramid when disaster struck. In this event, a Gladiator was tasked with preventing his assigned contender from reaching the summit of a giant pyramid. To stop them from securing all 10 points, the Gladiators would wrestle with the stars and throw them to the safety mats below.
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But things took a terrible turn when Rhino gripped his opponent and went tumbling to the foot of the pyramid. When he landed, it was clear the bodybuilder was in severe pain as show crew rushed to his side.
He was stretchered off and later informed of the extent of his injury. Reflecting on the incident, Mark exclusively told Daily Star: "I tore lateral ligaments in my right knee in my first year. Horrific pain.
"I knew it was bad when I’d done that. I've never felt pain like it." The star, who turned to acting after leaving the show, said he was well looked after in the months following his injury.
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"They really looked after me," he explained. "It was eight weeks in a cast and 12 weeks rehabilitation." Luckily the injury wasn't long-term. He added: "Since then I've run four marathons, three LA, one London. I’ve had boxing fights since then so I’ve been lucky that it's fine."
Despite fully recovering from the injury, Mark admitted he thought it could be career-ending at the time. The actor went on: "But at the time I thought that was it. When they took off the cast, the amount of muscle wastage that you lose. I had to build it all back up again."
Opening up about becoming a late arrival on the series, Mark admitted he was greeted with a warm welcome. "They welcomed me very much with open arms," he recalled. "They’d all been through the process so they were all very nice and very kind, they showed me a lot of love and we became a family."
The dad-of-three continued: "I was close with all of them. There’s no one I didn’t get on with, girls or guys. There was great camaraderie." Mark admitted he wouldn't have had the career he's had without Gladiators. "It totally changed my life. I'm a kid from very humble beginnings," he said. "I grew up with my granddad and my mum was always in and out of hospital. So I’m very grateful."
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