Eighteen years ago, Phil Ounsley built a playground in his Yorkshire garage to encourage his daughter's sporting aspirations.
It wasn't just about DIY training with its gym rings and hurdles though, it was also a father's love letter to his seven-year-old daughter who had watched him compete in the hit TV challenge show Gladiators.
That girl, Jodie Ounsley, is now a Gladiator herself - aka Fury - one of the stars of the BBC's 2024 relaunch of the primetime favourite in which ordinary 'contenders' take on elite 'Gladiators' across brutal events before the final Eliminator obstacle course.
For Fury, Gladiators has always been a personal legacy. 'My dad was a contender in the original show,' she says. 'He'd been a policeman for 30 years and became known as "The Yorkshire Police Officer".
'I was there at the live shows, watching him going up against everyone. I remember it like it was yesterday.
'When I started on Gladiators myself we joked about how bizarre it was, how things turn around because there he was in the audience watching me as a Gladiator. That's why it's so much more than a TV show to me.'
Fury - whose real name is Jodie Ounsley - is one of the Gladiators in the BBC's relaunch of the family favourite
In November 2025, Jodie lost her beloved father, Phil Ounsley, after he died suddenly at the age of 56
Tragically, Jodie's beloved father, a mixed martial arts expert, died suddenly aged 56 while out walking along Pen-y-ghent, in Yorkshire, last November.
For Jodie, the immense gratitude and joy for her dad's unwavering support tempers her grief.
'Even at 56 he was still my best training partner,' she says. 'I always knew he was proud of me and I want to continue to make him proud.
'As a family, my mum and younger brother have got the mindset that we've just got to live life to the full now for Dad.
'Gladiators had everything he loved; the show keeps us going.'
Jodie has always been athletic, but with Phil sport was constant. 'I was always getting stuck into climbing trees, play fighting or wrestling with him,' she says.
'Looking back, I was actually training to be a Gladiator without even realising. When people talk about him they say he was humble but savage.
'A savage athlete who never carried himself like a star.'
And it doesn't take long to realise that Jodie has inherited exactly that balance.
Profoundly deaf from infancy, Jodie received a cochlear implant as a baby but her disability didn't prevent her making history as the first deaf woman to play for a senior England rugby side, earning her first cap with England Sevens in 2019.
She's also a British Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion and won the title of Deaf Sports Personality Of The Year in 2020.
Now she's making a name for herself in a mainstream entertainment field, having appeared on Celebrity MasterChef and last month's Strictly Christmas Special.
She describes her deafness matter-of-factly. 'We think it was down to the fact I was premature.
'I became very ill and had medication, which we think is what caused me to lose my hearing. But to me, I’ve just been deaf from birth and that’s all I’ve ever known.'
Her parents were determined not to let it define her life. 'They organised a cochlear implant, sent me to a mainstream school and focused on my speech,' says Fury, now 25.
'I had the implant when I was 14 months old but I was already doing speech therapy at three months and rehab to build eye contact and concentration.'
Her first adrenaline hit came at three years old watching her dad training in the garden for the World Coal Carrying Championships, which she later competed in herself.
'I went on to win it five times over the years. That sparked my fire for adrenaline and competition,' she says.
Her initial passion for rugby began as an obstacle she had to overcome.
'When I went to watch my younger brother play I thought, "I want to give this a go," but I never thought I’d be able to play because I have a cochlear implant and you’re not allowed to play contact sports because of the risks.'
It was a long journey to find ways around it - with parents who fought her corner - until she finally arrived at her first session with boots and a white headguard.
However, just as she was about to start she was overcome with fear. 'I said, "Dad, I can’t get out of the car. Can we go home instead?"
But in the nicest way possible, my dad, being a Yorkshireman, said, "You’re not dragging me all this way for you to say you’re not doing it."
If I hadn’t got out of the car I would never have played rugby for England or become a Gladiator.'
It was rugby that forced her to confront the everyday realities of deafness in a sport built on sound and split-second communication.
Upon announcing her father's death in November, Jodie penned she was 'heartbroken' and added 'He had hiked that peak countless times throughout his life, but none of us knew he wouldn't walk back down that day.'
She missed whistles and just carried on. 'I’d run the length of the pitch thinking I’m going to score a try when the referee had already blown the whistle!
'Once a ref thought I was ignoring him so he gave me a yellow card. He didn’t know I was deaf until I explained, and from then on I told every referee before the game.'
Jodie was away at an England rugby camp when the Gladiators reboot was announced, and her involvement began as a family joke.
'Me and my family were joking saying we’ll all have to sit down and watch it again.' Then another joke followed - one that would turn her life in a whole new direction. 'They said, "Why don’t you go for it and see what happens?"'
Jodie had already spent a lifetime finding ways around what most people would see as a barrier, so Gladiators was just another hurdle to overcome.
It's a reminder that the confidence people see in Fury on TV is built on years of discipline.
Her strong, perfectly articulated Yorkshire accent is a prime example given that she's profoundly deaf.
'People always ask, "How can you have a Yorkshire accent when you’re profoundly deaf?" It’s because from a young age I’ve been looking at people’s mouths and how they move,' she says.
'Every accent has a different lip pattern. So I’ve naturally picked up a Yorkshire accent by reading my mum and dad’s lips.'
But her biggest battle was self-belief. 'Even into my teenage years I really struggled with self-confidence. It was Mum and Dad who were always saying, "You can do it." Without them, I don’t think I would have got anywhere near what I’ve done so far.'
Moving to London when she got her first professional rugby contract at 18 was a turning point.
'That’s when I really had to force myself to get out of my comfort zone,' she recalls.
'I literally couldn’t speak to people. That’s how shy and nervous I was.' She manages her nerves by re-framing them, a trick she learned after meeting Sir Linford Christie at an athletics competition.
'He said nerves are a good thing as it means you care about what you’re going to do,' she says.
She believes Gladiators works because it contains real lessons. It isn't just brute strength; it's about resilience and sportsmanship. 'It's really tough especially for contenders both mentally and physically.'
And she didn't fully understand what it would mean to be a deaf Gladiator until the show was out and the response hit her.
Now she's a role model and huge inspiration. 'Once the show came out it just blew my mind.
Teachers, deaf charities, parents and kids all reached out. I get emotional when I see the messages.
Just having Fury on TV means deaf people feel really seen. I'm so happy that kids feel they can look at me and think, "I want to be like that person when I'm older."'
She sees her deafness as something that has shaped her character. 'I think it's definitely made me into a more open person. I can really sympathise and I have a real drive to help people.'
And like many high-achievers, she's had to learn that strength isn't always about soldiering on.
In Fury's case, there is a specific exhaustion that hearing people don't experience.
'Being profoundly deaf you get listening fatigue from reading people's lips for hours on end.'
She says there was a moment last year where she realised she had to step back.
'Instead of just powering on, I knew I had to be honest with the people around me and admit, "I'm struggling a little bit. I need to recharge."
'I took three weeks off. I felt like I just needed to crack on, but it was honestly the best thing I did.'
On the Gladiators set, her deafness also requires practical adjustments with visual cues and written instructions.
'They use arm signals to say stop and start. But there’s so much support that I can just be myself.'
The show has opened her world up beyond rugby and into entertainment. 'If an opportunity comes, just give it your best shot,' she says.
'Just like with my dad, I want people to think, "She’s a really humble person - but don’t mess with her!"'