Michael Van Wijk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Gladiator name: | Wolf |
|---|---|
| Hometown: | Henderson, New Zealand |
| Height: | 1.83 m (6 ft) |
| Weight: | 95 kg (15 stone) |
| Theme Tune: | Wild Thing - The Troggs |
Michael Van Wijk (born in Bombay, India, 30 September 1952), is a professional sportsman, bodybuilder, actor and TV presenter in the UK.
Van Wijk is most well-known for his role as Wolf on British TV endurance sports game show Gladiators, a role he held for seven years (1992-1999). According to a Sky One interview, producers refused to allow Van Wijk to be aggressive as a Gladiator, but he soon persuaded them to let him try it. His distinct persona led him to be the most popular Gladiator in the history of the show.
He was also known to video game players for appearing on the cover of the computer games Barbarian 2 and alongside Maria Whittaker in Barbarian by Palace Software. He was also a victim of the 'animals' edition of the TV show Brass Eye. Michael Van Wijk was spotted by a member of the Gladiators production team shortly before filming began on the first television series in 1992. He once stated on Gladiators that his favourite television show was Star Trek.
Van Wijk used to run a gym in Hayes in Bromley, London called 'Wolfs Gym'. It was open until the late nineties and included facilities geared towards body-builders, wrestlers and boxers.
Van Wijk, second spouse Paula, and their three children live in Auckland, New Zealand. According to a report in the Sunday Mirror, his wife once owned "Chipmunks Playground and Cafe", an indoor adventure playground for 3-12 year olds, now sold.
After being missing from British Television screens for nine years, Van Wijk told Loaded Magazine in April 2008, "I want to come back, I want to be a Gladiator again."[1] Loaded sent a journalist from London to Wolf's home in Henderson, Auckland, to persuade the actor to return to England to appear in the new series and has supposidly been spotted near Sevenoaks, Kent. According to the Loaded article, today, Van Wijk, 55, is a regular on the Kiwi Cage Fighting scene, and competes nationally in Ju Jitsu championships. He is a twice silver medallist competing against fighters half of his age for the New Zealand title.
