A former American Gladiators cast member has said that he suffered horrible injuries on the programme, including a concussion on his first day with his skull split open.
The reality competition debuted in the United States three years before its British version, which is getting a revamp on the BBC later this year.
American Gladiators broadcast until 1996, with a brief return in 2008.
Deron McBee, better known as Malibu and his surfer demeanour, was an initial cast member.
A new ESPN documentary dubbed 30 for 30: The American Gladiators Documentary has shown what it was like to work on the show behind the scenes, with McBee recalling the suffering he faced at the outset.
On his first day, the now-62-year-old took part in a ‘Human Cannonball,’ which featured a fellow participant named Tarzan hanging on a rope and crashing with him, with just a football blocking pad to save him from falling from a platform.
The documentary detailed how McBee’s head was split open following the collision, subsequently leading to a concussion, The New York Post reported.
Following the event, the gladiator was claimed to have had surgery to straighten his brow.
‘None of the producers or directors came up and talked to me about it. Nobody wanted to say what happened and it was like they wanted to sweep it under the rug,’ he claimed.
However, McBee’s doctor allegedly urged him not to take part in American Gladiators any more.
‘My doctor said, “Listen, you sustain one more hit like you got, you’re going to be in a wheelchair paralysed because your brain is slowing,”’ he told the publication.
‘I begged him to let me go back to work.’
The athlete described his time on American Gladiators as “cutthroat,” noting that despite his worries of life-altering injuries, he was at risk of being easily replaced.
‘[The attitude was] “because if you don’t do it, we’ll just get somebody else to fill your boots”… I had these things in the back of my mind. I was literally scared that I could be in a wheelchair – or worse,’ he stated.
In a clip from the documentary, McBee recounted the incident as he said: ‘Human Cannonball was a nightmare for me. The very first day, we had this event and I can’t even tell you how intimidating it is to be looking 30 feet away, you’ve got a football blocking pad and this guy weighs 200 pounds, swinging on a rope trying to kick you off.
‘My left knee hit my head, I gave myself a concussion, I split my head open. It was bad. I literally had to convince the surgeon to release me to go back to work, and he had said, “No you can’t, because if you get hurt again, you die. Your concussion was that bad.” But as bad as that crash was, it got me famous and people talking about that show.’
McBee sustained fractured ribs and a torn bicep as a result of his actions on the show, in addition to his head split and concussion.
30 for 30: The American Gladiators Documentary Part 1 is streaming on ESPN Plus in the US.
Source My Celebrity Life.
