12 March 2024 , 10:56
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Ulrika Jonsson has confessed that she wouldn't dream of hooking up with any of the current Gladiators stars after dating James Crossley - aka Hunter - during the 90s.
TV presenter Ulrika, 56, hosted the iconic show back in 1992 where she first laid eyes on James. And 32 years after the first episode aired, the new series of Gladiators returned - but Ulrika wasn't impressed with the selection of muscley men.
Lifting the lid on why she would never date one of the new stars, Ulrika confessed: "I've met a couple of the Gladiators - they are huge. James was big, but today they're massive. That does not appeal to me. It didn't appeal to me then, but those big bodies... what would you do with them?"
Ulrika hosted Gladiators back in the 90s (Rex)Reminiscing on her romance with former Gladiators star James, aka Hunter, Ulrika told Closer: "James and I just fancied each other and we got on really well and had a great connection." Back in 2021, Ulrika reached out to her former boyfriend James after watching him in action on The Circle.
The Swedish star enjoyed a brief romance with the former bodybuilder over 30 years ago when they both took part in the Saturday night hit show in the early nineties. Back in 2021, James took part in Channel 4's innovative reality show, The Circle, and his former girlfriend Ulrika was tuning in to watch his progress.
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Ulrika took to Instagram to share a screenshot of the show, and a close-up of the former athlete’s face. Alongside the snap, she penned: “It's too late at night for me to watch but he can be cute.”
The TV star enjoyed a brief romance with James following her divorce from first husband John Turnbull after their five-year marriage crumbled. While the former lovebirds denied their romance at the time, Ulrika later confirmed they were an item in her autobiography Honest, which was released in 2003.
The star admitted that their relationship was incredibly physical as she penned: “Well, I guess I was infatuated with James. It was a physical thing. And what a nice man he turned out to be.”
Ulrika dated James briefly (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
James has since appeared on The Circle (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)It comes as Ulrika recently claimed that the stars of the hit 1990s show, which she previously presented, were "jumping from bed to bed" - with one female star even boasting of having sex with four people in one night. "In the first year, there was loads of jumping from bed to bed," Ulrika told Vicky Pattison on an episode of her podcast The Secret To.
"One female gladiator said: 'You were f***ing five people! People were coming and going in your room last night', and she replied: 'No, only four'. The hotel room had to stop them using fake tan as it ruined the sheets."