Gladiators legend Jet on bombshell moment she met her future wife in Tesco… & enjoying dating a woman for the first time
SHE was one of Gladiators’ biggest pin-ups, who competitors always struggled to floor – but now Jet has been swept off her feet by a woman she met in her local supermarket.
Three decades on from the show’s heyday, the 53-year-old star — real name Diane Youdale — has opened up about her surprise romance and wedding plans.
She explains why she started dating women relatively late in life, having previously only been with men including fellow Gladiator James Crossley, who was then known as Hunter.
And it all began when she was asked out on a date by fiancée Zoe, 49, after their eyes met across a crowded store.
Diane said: “It was aisle six of Tesco and I nearly fell on the floor.
“It was like that feeling when your knees give way, I felt winded.
READ MORE ON GLADIATORS' JET
“I was like, ‘Yes, of course’ and by the weekend we went to a local village with two nice pubs in and we had a meal together and we literally have not been apart since.
“She had no idea I was a Gladiator either at the time.”
If she had, Zoe might not have been so bold. Even though they had seen one another previously, it was the first time they’d spoken and things moved at quite a pace.
‘It’s about the person’
Diane said: “We’d clapped eyes on each other before, as I work nearby, and Zoe knew what time I’d go shopping as it was always the same time after a class.
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“So she came up to me and said, ‘I think you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen’ and I was like ‘Wow, thank you’ and she said, ‘Are you single?’
“I said ‘Yes’ and she said, ‘May I ask you out on a date?’”
Friends have been blown away by their whirlwind romance, and have even been spurred on by their romantic encounter in Tesco.
Laughing, Diane says: “A lot of people have been saying they’re going to start hanging out there, to see if they can find a future husband or future wife.”
Following their meeting in the supermarket 12 months ago, they couple will soon be walking down an aisle of a different kind after Diane proposed just four months into their relationship.
She adds: “I knew in my heart I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life, and I proposed.
“It wasn’t very romantic, I should have gone back to Tesco’s and made an event of it.
“I was in the kitchen and said, ‘I know we are going to be together forever so why don’t we make it official — let’s get married.’”
Diane is a qualified therapist and now trains “future therapists”, as well as teaching Pilates and Zumba at a local gym.
Her romance with Zoe, a teacher in the legal sector, came as a huge surprise to her legions of fans who watched her on Gladiators on ITV in the Nineties and Noughties, and presumed she was entirely straight in her sexuality.
Now a whole new generation is going to be introduced to a new group of Gladiators as BBC One reboots the show later this year, with Bradley and Barney Walsh hosting.
Diane won’t be returning, but she could not have made a bigger impression the first time round, quickly becoming one of the show’s favourite stars.
The brunette was famous for her big smile and enjoyed a high-profile relationship with Hunter then was married to TV exec George Mayhew for seven years, before their amicable split.
But Diane admits her sexuality changed “organically” and there was never a moment when she “came out”. She explains: “Growing up in showbuisness and moving to London at 16, I’ve always lived around gay men and women but I’ve never thought about it for me personally.
“And I wasn’t attracted to women in my twenties and thirties.
“I wasn’t really conscious of who I was attracted to. It’s always been, and always will be, about the person.
“I don’t particularly have a problem with age, culture or sexuality. For me, it always comes down to the person and this beautiful soul who I want to spend all my life with happens to be a woman.”
Diane adds: “It’s not a conscious thing, like right, ‘I’m dating women now’. I choose people in my life who are not judgmental because I have no space for them.
“I’m a trained psychotherapist and have been in practice for over 30 years. I can’t put people in boxes or with labels, it’s not a thing I can do.
“I am what I am, I’m in love with a person and I want to spend the rest of my life with them. It’s as simple as that.
“I wouldn’t point my finger at someone and box them in either.
“I just don’t think life is that straightforward. We’re quite organic beings and people change, from decade to decade. I’m not the same person now, in my fifties, as I was in my twenties.”
And she confirms Zoe is her first female partner, saying: “I have got lots of gay female friends, but I haven’t dated any of them. So Zoe was the first I dated.
“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”
‘Glamorous smile’
Settling down with a woman wasn’t the only surprise for Diane.
The star, who has also appeared on Big Brother spin-off shows in her role as a psychotherapist, didn’t ever think she would have another partner following a toxic relationship with an ex-boyfriend, which she has never previously spoken about.
Following the end of her marriage, she embarked on a new romance but the relationship turned sour. Diane says: “It destroyed my confidence and pretty much everything else. It made me never want to be close to anyone ever again.
“Thankfully this person travelled a lot for their career so I could have my own space in that house.
“It took me a long time to work out how I could move my life forward and escape this awful relationship. I used to cry a lot and feel like if people actually knew the truth about this person — this glamorous smile, hair flicking and confident woman who stands in front of hundreds of people lecturing and teaching, in fitness and psychotherapy — was somebody back then very much struggling behind her own front door.”
To make matters worse, Diane was unable to share her private feelings with family members over fears it may impact their health, namely her beloved father Jack Youdale, an astronomer, who was nearing the end of his life. She adds: “I hid it from my family at the time because my late father was alive.
“He was one of the heroes of my life, and it would have been so distressing for him to know. So I hid it from him and my family.
“Dad was coming to the end of his life and he had enough to deal with, as he was losing his health.”
But thankfully, over time, Diane regained her confidence and credits new love Zoe for bringing her out of her shell. The couple are planning an intimate ceremony, but intend to organise “mini-moons” up and down the country where they can enjoy dinners with friends, rather than ask them to travel long distances to their wedding.
So how does Zoe feel about marrying one of the UK’s best loved pin-ups of the Nineties?
She says: “I don’t know who’s more surprised, me or my nephews who are still living off the back of this. It’s the dream story for them.
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“We just sit on the sofa watching TV together and I sometimes think ‘I used to watch you all those years ago and I know you were a pin-up’, but I look past all of Jet and the publicity, and I see her as Diane, who’s a wonderful person who I’m very much in love with.
“I feel very lucky.”
WE'D GLADLY RETURN
THE Gladiators reboot, coming to BBC One later this year, will herald a new era of buff superstars.
There will also be plenty of speculation surrounding their romantic status and whether any of them are dating each other, just as Jet and Hunter did back in the Nineties.
Reflecting on the relationship, Diane has fond memories.
She says: “I dated Hunter for one year, and we’re still really good friends.
“He’s a really lovely person, so funny.
“And he’s still really fit – a very impressive person.
“I’m glad I had that time with him but we barely saw each other because our careers were crazy at the time. We were always travelling.”
Diane admits she would have loved to have featured in the TV reboot in some capacity, but none of the original stars have been invited back.
She adds: “It would have been nice to have us backstage, like a little nod to the original.
“We’ve all felt that, but it wasn’t to be.
“It sounds like it’s going to be an amazing show though.
“I’m still going to be watching.”