A major ITV star was left penniless despite a seven-year run on one of the most popular TV programmes of the 1990s. James Crossley was better known by his Gladiator name Hunter when he appeared on the game show from 1993 until 2000 – and was considered by viewers to be one of the most formidable of the athletes.

However, the star has now confessed that he was forced to sign on the dole after spending all his show earnings. He jetted off to Los Angeles before his first episode aired, enjoying a lavish holiday – but returning to the UK with significantly less in the bank. He revealed he had “basically no money left” during an appearance on the Remember Me? podcast.

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James said: “We thought we’d go on holiday [with fellow Gladiators Lightning, Jet and Trojan], so we all went on holiday and went to Gold’s gym and all the things in LA… because we were all into that stuff.

“And then I came back, and I basically had no money left, and I couldn’t work because I was doing [the show], so I remember signing on the dole when I’d finished filming. I signed on for about five or six months, and then I started getting the appearances.”

Thankfully, James proved a hit with viewers and even returned to Gladiators in 2008 when the show was rebooted by Sky, before eventually being taken over by the BBC.

He has also appeared on Channel 4 reality show The Circle, along with breaking the world record in 2018 for lifting the Dinnie Stones with a time of 34.58 seconds.

Now, however, James has ditched his showbiz roots and is now a musician and sound healer, creating his own school to certify gong bath practitioners in London. In 2024, he opened the London Handpan Academy.