A former Gladiators’ star has lifted the lid on rumours about his life on set, love for animals and why the new TV show just won’t be as good as the original.

Michael Wilson took the UK by storm three decades ago as the 6ft, smiley and flexible Cobra on the then ITV mega hit .

Born in Crayford, near Dartford, he went to the same school as Harry Potter star Sir Michael Gambon.

Now, living in St Mary’s Bay after moving from a flat he owned in The Leas, Folkestone, the 60-year-old has spoken exclusively to KentOnline about his thoughts on the return of the once-popular show.

The former Crayford Secondary School pupil, who grew up living near Alan Carr and Lennox Lewis, said: “I was 29-years-old when I made my first appearance. Funnily enough, I used to get told I look young for my age but now it’s the other way round. That’s what happens though when you’re being bashed in the head with pugil sticks.

“I originally applied to be a contestant but was made a standby Gladiator and took three weeks off work. But when we were doing some mixed martial arts one of the producers said they liked the ‘karate s***’ I was doing and they took me on.”

Speaking about the life of a Gladiator, he said: “It gets a bit boring really. It’s a lot of the same thing, making appearances at shopping centres and theme parks. The money was fantastic though.”

Michael still makes multiple appearances and says work is always “ticking over”, but he’s mortgage-free and enjoying life by the seaside where he looks after six badgers, foxes, two chihuahuas, a shih tzu, and a stray cat he fed tuna to and it kept returning.

However, he has been left with several health issues, including worn-out hips and shoulder problems after “extensive training” and an accident when he was working as a stuntman on Bollywood film Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha which was released in 2017.

He added: “I’ll never forget where the job took me though. I met [second man on the moon] Buzz Aldrin at Euro Disney for the opening of Space Mountain in 1995. Myself and some of the other UK Gladiators were in the reception of a hotel when some women came up and started asking us where we were from.

“I told them and then went on to say how I’d love to go space and that’s when one woman said she was married to Buzz Aldrin and introduced us.

“I've also met Diana Ross while filming a show before. She was practising her songs but said she couldn’t sing in front of an empty crowd so I was asked to sit in the seats – I got a one-woman show!”

Addressing claims he was regularly drunk on the show, the veteran hardman admitted: “I was tipsy probably three times, but that’s because we didn’t know when we were going to be back on the show.”

He’d be out with friends and would get called up with very little notice.

Michael has watched the new show, which is now on the BBC, and is a fan of former Hythe teacher Matt Morsia.

He said: “The new show is a bit like buying a Rolex from the market… it looks good and looks the same, but it’s not as good as the original.

“We weren’t even the originals ourselves to be fair as it was the Americans. It’s hard to repeat something and make it as good as the first.

“I was a bit insulted nobody from the team asked the originals to come back, even while it was being filmed, but they probably don’t want us talking to the new ones. They probably think we would share some tips and tricks with the new ones whether it be how to climb the wall or how to get ahead in other challenges.”

Michael revealed he spotted Matt in Sainsbury’s the other week and thought he was a “big lump”, but praised him for his funny personality and positive fitness work. He’s also a fan of Jamie Christian Johal who portrays Giant.

The former gym worker says he hopes the new show gets children off their feet and outside again as he fears for the growing number of obese youngsters.

Michael, a self-confessed animal lover, is now living in a bungalow with his partner of 10 years and their multiple pets.

“I’ll see a worm on the pavement and put it on the dirt,” he said. “I’ve rescued seagulls, pigeons, doves all sorts. I help a fella in Folkestone who rescues them. He told me the majority of young seagulls die from starvation so I can’t help chucking them a bit of bread now.”

The former Gladiator opened up on how the death of his father helped him keep a positive mindset after he found out he was terminally ill just minutes before the show’s first live show in Wembley in 1992.

He said: “Dad was dying and said you’ve got to enjoy every day, so that’s what I try to do.”