A few years ago Matt Morsia was teaching PE at a Kent school – but tonight he will be battling contestants as Legend in the final of the BBC reboot of Gladiators.

Here, KentOnline looks at the Hythe dad-of-two’s meteoric rise to become a YouTube fitness phenomenon and primetime TV star.

In 2017, Matt Morsia made a decision that would change his life forever.

He was dropping a day of work as a PE teacher at Folkestone Academy in order to focus more on his YouTube channel.

His worried wife Sarah put her head in her hands and asked: “Are you sure? What about your pension? How are we going to afford to live?”

Seven years later, Matt has long since quit the day job – and tonight will be showing off his 48cm biceps as Legend in the BBC One reboot of Gladiators.

He will already be a familiar face to many, boasting more than two million subscribers on YouTube and a million followers on Instagram.

His videos – which include collaborations with the ‘Sidemen’ YouTube superstars – have been watched a staggering 382,684,352 times in total.

Back in 2020, Matt told KentOnline how he was earning more in a month than he did in a year as a teacher, thanks to revenue from his MattDoesFitness channel and contracts with Gymshark and MyProtein.

He has since built on that success, with 10,000 users on his Morsia fitness app – which costs £14.99 a month. The 37-year-old – who has two sons, Luca and Mauro – has also sold almost a million cans of his own energy drink since launching it last year.

Sarah has long since quit her teaching job at Hythe Bay Primary School to help him with the channel full-time – and gained thousands of followers on her own Instagram account.

After finding fame on new media like YouTube, Matt is now being watched on TV by millions of households across the country on Gladiators.

His fans will be well-acquainted with his tongue-in-cheek humour, which has been exemplified in the new show.

Matt, who had a 6ft hologram poster of former Gladiator ‘Wolf’ on his bedroom wall when growing up in Folkestone, has said: “Being a Gladiator is amazing - it means so much to me.

“I do feel like Gladiators was created for me.”

So, how did the former Harvey Grammar School pupil get to where he is today?

Back in 2011, he had his sights set on competing at the London Olympics as he was ranked among the top three triple jumpers in the country and represented England internationally. But during training, Matt suffered a stress fracture in his spine and for six months was completely out of action.

When he was finally able to get back in the gym – and with Brazil 2016 a distant four years away – his new obsession became lifting weights.

It was Sarah who suggested Matt start putting workouts on YouTube.

“Within a few videos I got hooked,” he told KentOnline.

“But I reckon I did it for three years with no income – four or five videos a week, each one after a day at work.”

Ultra-competitive Matt became a powerlifter, winning a silver medal in the European Championships in 2016.

The 6ft 2in man-mountain had to consume 6,000 calories a day to maintain a bodyweight of 16st 5lb – and was able to bench press 180kg, deadlift 320kg and squat 265kg.

He was invited to powerlifting events and drew huge crowds to watch him in action.

“I thrive on it,” he said. “I’m the biggest exhibitionist.”

One day he noticed eating challenges were trending on YouTube, so he made a video where he gobbled 10,000 calories worth of pizza, McDonald’s and doughnuts in a day, getting hundreds of thousands of views.

His record is devouring a gut-busting 25,000 calories in 24 hours – a feat watched 5.8 million times.

Matt is not a fan of diets and insists getting into shape is all about exercise, building muscle mass and eating in moderation.

As well as uploading videos, Matt started writing training programmes for followers.

“That started to generate actual revenue,” he said. “Within a few months it was level with the school salary.

“I knew it was a bit risky but I decided to start dropping my teaching hours.”

Matt was worried that if his hobby became his full-time job then it wouldn’t be as fun.

“But it was the best decision I ever made,” he said.

“My content was a million times better, being able to travel and have time away.”

Over the past 11 years, Matt has published 1,400 videos – mostly filmed in Kent.

Unsurprisingly, having gained 2.25m million YouTube subscribers, strangers often recognise him and stop to say hello – even on a family holiday to the Alps.

It’s likely to be an even more common occurrence now he has been starring every Saturday evening on prime-time TV.

The final of Gladiators is on BBC One on Saturday, March 30, at 5.50pm