Who is Sabre? Gladiators 2025 star and CrossFit athlete

This year’s Gladiators line-up features some new additions who will be revealed as season 2 continues, but there are plenty of familiar faces from season 1 that fans know and love.

Within the revival line-up is Sabre, who proved a massive hit among viewers in season 1, and she’s back ready to do it all over again.

While an injury saw her bow out of the competition in the semi-final, Sabre will be aiming to make it to the final this time.

As Gladiators returns for another standout season, read on for everything you need to know about Sabre, including a very fun fact about her!

Who is Sabre?

Age: 36

From: Dundee

Height: 5ft 7

Bicep: 31cm

Fact: Sabre can deadlift 160kg – that's heavier than a baby African elephant!

Instagram: @sabrethegladiator

Sheli McCoy, better known as Sabre on the BBC One series, is a CrossFit athlete and weightlifter, who set three Scottish weightlifting records in 2023.

Prior to her time on Gladiators, Sheli competed in five British Weightlifting Championships events and CrossFit championships and became Scottish champion in both sports.

While Sheli didn’t set out to become a Gladiator, she says the "Gladiator life" chose her. "I have always set out to be the best version of myself, whether that’s in health, fitness, as a representative to younger females," she said.

"Ultimately, I did think I was waiting on something, I didn’t know it would be as amazing as Gladiators though!"

Ahead of her Gladiators debut back in 2024, Sabre described her character as "playful, athletic, energetic, but with a killer instinct".

She continued: "She loves to encourage a good game and see the contenders do well... up to a certain point. But it’s her game to win, and after playing with you for a while, she’ll take you down."

Gladiators returns on Saturday 18th January at 5:50pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

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