90s TV star unrecognisable in movie role before finding fame-Danni Scott-Entertainment – Metro

A fan favourite Gladiator nearly had a film career (Picture: Vestron Pictures)

One of the original Gladiators has shared a throwback picture of himself looking utterly unrecognisable in a blockbuster cameo before fame.

Wolf, real name Michael Van Wijk, rose to fame on the popular show which just had a successful reboot series helmed by Bradley Walsh.

In a cheeky throwback snap, the now 71-year-old revealed his sneaky role in 1988’s Salome’s Last Dance, four years before Gladiators.

He was credited only as ‘2nd soldier’ in the Ken Russell film, which also stars Glenda Jackson, Stratford Johns, and Nickolas Grace.

The movie sees Grace as Oscar Wilde, attempting to put on his banned play ‘Salome’ in a brothel where all the performers are prostitutes.

‘A movie by the famous director Ken Russell I did before I was a Gladiator,’ wrote Wolf on Instagram.

Wolf joked about his life ‘before being a Gladiator’ (Picture: Vestron Pictures)

Wolf starred in eight seasons of the beloved competition show (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)

In the picture, he’s dressed rather skimpily in tiny leather pants, with a spear and helmet as he shows off his muscles.

‘Nice background,’ the bodybuilder quipped about the women stood behind him, wearing equally minimal outfits with nipple covers on.

The hour and a half film grossed $331,469 in the box office and is mainly a verbatim performance of Oscar Wilde’s 1891 play Salome which is in turn a New Testament story.

Titular character Salome was portrayed by Imogen Millais-Scott, who actually went blind three weeks before filming from glandular fever.

Rumour has it that director Russell made it on a bet he couldn’t make a movie for under $1million, it wrapped in less than a month and cost less than $1.3 million.

He was an original Gladiator from 1992 to 2000 (Picture: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Salome’s Last Dance is a raunchy film based on Oscar Wilde’s play (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)

In a truly iconic review, the Los Angeles Times called it ‘languid and tedious’ and declared the film was ‘virtually devoid of genuine eroticism of any persuasion’.

Wolf’s movie star throwback comes days after he took shots at Gladiators for not casting his lookalike son, Dean.

He shared a side-by-side picture of the two of them and wrote: ‘My eldest son Dean who is awesome all round athlete asked to be auditioned by the BBC.

‘But unfortunately the BBC want nothing to do with the original gladiators and only want to write their own narrative.

‘They did not even give him an audition, which is a real shame as I personally think he would make a great gladiator.’

Wolf joked about the barely clothed women in the background (Picture: Vestron Pictures)

Salome’s Last Dance made less than $350,000 in the US and Canada (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)

Fans agreed that the BBC had missed a big opportunity by not having a son of an original Gladiator appear on the show.

The first series of the reboot saw Finlay Anderson and Marie-Louise Nicholson crowned after an intense showdown.

For anyone hoping to try their luck at the Eliminator, Gladiators has been renewed for a second season after 8.7 million of us tuned in to watch.

Anyone over 18 years old can apply to be a contender on the show next season by visiting the BBC’s website on this link before June 13, 2024.

Gladiators is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

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