Jodie Ounsley has become one of the most recognisable rugby players in the UK thanks to her place as Fury in BBC 1’s hit show Gladiators.

The 24-year-old has been one of the Saturday night tea time show’s most popular Gladiators since its reboot in 2024 thanks to applying many of the skills she learned playing for England’s sevens team and in the PWR.

However there is one former competitor in particular that Ounsley thinks could make a formidable Gladiator, New Zealand 15s and 7s star Portia Woodman Wickcliffe.

“Portia (Woodman Wickcliffe) would be an awesome Gladiator,” Ounsley told Rugby World.

“I spoke to her recently and she didn’t know what Gladiators was so I explained the show to her and that she would be an animal as a Gladiator.

“She googled it and realised you get to tackle members of the public. She’d be dangerous if she was a Gladiator!”

Ounsley also name checked Ilona Maher as another former rival who could make a go of it on the show calling her an “absolute unit” with “the personality and chat to match.”

From the rugby pitch to BBC 1

The former Exeter Chiefs winger retired from all forms of rugby in 2024 following a series of injuries but also to pursue the opportunity of appearing in the new version of Gladiators.

The out-of-blue offer was supported by her former teammates and coaches and quickly saw Ounsley becoming one of the show’s most popular characters Fury. She was then awarded the status of “veteran” thanks to her ability in the show.

It also led to her becoming a recognisable face in the street with people often asking for her to put them in headlocks for pictures.

“It’s so bizarre and I will never get used to it but I love chatting to people anyway and I end up getting in trouble for speaking to people too much,” Ounsley added.

“I just don’t seem to process good things but even at the World Cup, the amount of people who came and told me they love Fury and Gladiators and have even started rugby because of me, it blew my mind. That’s what I do it for.

“Even if I can have a small impact getting people in sport, I’ll keep doing it. But I’m still not used to it, I’m just Jodie from Yorkshire.”

While Ounsley has been using her profile on Gladiators to promote rugby, women’s rugby has been transformed by the recent World Cup.

Read more: How to watch all the Autumn Internationals wherever you are in the world

Records were broken across the board in terms of attendance and broadcasting as the women’s game reached new audiences, a departure from her time in the game.

“I think the biggest thing at the start was people coming to the game or even watching it being broadcast. I remember at the start with the PWR, it was a miracle if you got a livestream on YouTube for your game.

“You’d think it was the best thing ever if you game was on YouTube and now the audience has grown so much with the World Cup, there has been this huge shift. It’s being celebrated and people are watching us. People saw this World Cup and have had their mind changed.”

• Jodie Ounsley is supporting Vodafone’s ‘See it. Believe it.’ campaign to help women’s rugby reach new audiences. Jodie is working with Goal Click to provide exclusive behind-the-scenes content from all levels of the game.

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