Gladiators star Montell Douglas, who is also known as Fire, has revealed that her Strictly Come Dancing professional partner Johannes Radebe secretly contributed to the BBC show

Gladiators star Montell Douglas has revealed that Strictly Come Dancing’s Johannes Radebe played a huge role in changing the show’s opening credits after the pair took on the dance competition together last year.

Montell, 38, is back as Fire on Gladiators for its upcoming second series, with members of the public taking on the show’s formidable athletes in a series of physical challenges. After a hugely successful debut last year, Montell revealed in an exclusive chat with The Mirror that Johannes decided to give her Fire move in the opening credits a complete revamp.

Speaking about her signature action, Montell said: “Mine’s been levelled up now. Jojo has changed it. It’s not even the same. He was like, ‘You can’t do this.’ But it’s not dancing, it’s sport. He’s like, ‘Your hand shouldn’t be over there, your leg should be here.’ He is a nightmare.

Montell Douglas is returning for the second series of Gladiators ( 
Image:
BBC / Graeme Hunter / © Hungry Bear Media Ltd)
“But we have choreographers, which is great. It was inspired by us, so we started off with what felt natural to us and then finessed to make it a bit more succinct.”

She added that while fans won’t get to see the upgraded move in the coming series of Gladiators as it was filmed last year, they should look out for it in series three.

“Series three it’s going to be different, the toes will definitely be pointed. They weren’t pointed before.”

Montell also revealed that she would love to see Johannes on a celebrity version of Gladiators. “I think it would be hilarious because I’ve seen him run, mainly towards me, and it’s just the funniest thing,” she smiled. “He would love it because he wants to wear Lycra. He’s like, ‘Spandex, Gladiators around me, why wouldn’t I want to do this?'”

Montell Douglas dancing with Johannes Radebe on Strictly Come Dancing last year ( 
Image:
PA)
BBC’s reboot of Gladiators proved to be a huge hit from the broadcaster last year, with millions of viewers tuning into the hit show. However, Montell revealed that she was nearly hit by a car when she and co-star Legend were mobbed by fans.

“It is actually annoying going out in public with Legend,” she said. “I nearly got run over the other day, legit story. Someone was talking to Legend and I was telling him to hurry up, then I was nearly run over.”

Despite the occasional danger, Montell said that the show’s popularity has been “special” for the cast. “It’s nice to have that impact because the show did so well,” she says. “Almost all of us are new in TV so we didn’t really know what to expect and how people would respond, especially when it’s so nostalgic and iconic.

“People were ready to shoot it down before it came out, but it’s been so overwhelmingly positive, it’s pretty wild.”