Gladiators icon Nightshade says she was denied UK passport at the height of fame
Gladiators icon Nightshade has revealed she was once denied a British passport at the height of her fame.
The now 62-year-old, whose real name is Judy Simpson, was an Olympic and Commonwealth Games star who competed for Great Britain in the heptathlon and high jump.
Jamaican-born Judy grew up in Rugby, Warwickshire and has spent much of her life in the UK.
But she said when she applied for a British passport during her Olympic days, her application was rejected.
“I thought I could get a British passport but they told me, ‘Oh no you can’t,” the Gladiators star said in a new interview.
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“I said, ‘But I’m competing for Great Britain, what do you mean I can’t have a British passport?’”
Judy is better known as Nighshade from Gladiators (Twitter)
The sports entertainment show was iconic in the Nineties (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Speaking with ITV News as part of their Windrush coverage to mark its 75th anniversary, Judy said she travelled on her Jamaican passport for her first few international competitions for the UK.
But while her teammates were waved through airport security on the way home, she had to wait ages to be processed.
She shared: “Of course, when you come back now, we’re all a team together.
“Then they go through the British passport and I have to go through the other nationalities queue.
“And they had to wait for ages for me to get through it and I just thought, ‘Oh it just shows you.’”
Judy in her Olympic days when she was competing for Team GB (Twitter)Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “I and the whole of government remain absolutely committed to righting the wrongs of the Windrush scandal. Already we have paid or offered more than £75 million in compensation to those affected and we continue to make improvements so people receive the maximum award as quickly as possible, but we know there is more to do, and will work tirelessly to make sure such an injustice is never repeated.
“The Windrush Generation and their descendants have made a significant and lasting contribution to the UK’s cultural, social and economic life. The 75th anniversary of the historic arrival of HMT Empire Windrush is an opportunity to celebrate them and their families.”
As well as being one of Britain’s greatest all-round athletes in the 1980s and early 1990s, Judy shot to fame on TV show Gladiators, which is set to be rebooted later this year.
She starred in the ITV show from when it started in 1993 to 1996, when she was forced to pull out due to a health scare.
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Personal tragedy also struck a few years later when Judy tragically lost her baby girl Joan to meningitis in 1999.
Judy won’t be making a return to the new series, which will air on the BBC and be hosted by Bradley Walsh and his son Barney.
The 11-part series will be back with a new generation of superhuman Gladiators who will compete against a brave set of contenders in the ultimate test of speed and strength.
Competitors from the general public will take on a series of new challenges and classics such as Hang Tough and tough obstacle course The Eliminator.
Viewers who watched the show the first time round will remember former Gladiators referee booming his famous words before each challenge: “Contenders, ready! Gladiators, ready! Three, two, one!”
Former Premier League football referee Mark Clattenburg will be doing the honours this time round.
Ex-international netball player Sonia Mkoloma and fitness star and firefighter Lee Phillips will also be picking up their whistles to keep the mighty Gladiators in check.
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