Warren Furman, known as Ace on the original run of Gladiators and a former fiancé of Katie Price, has described his participation in the new ITV reality competition The Summit as 'the scariest job and profoundly life changing'. The show, which begins on Monday 9 February, follows 14 strangers attempting to climb an 8,500ft mountain in New Zealand within 14 days to win a £200,000 cash prize.
Furman, now an associate curate at a Hammersmith church, said the challenge was harder than his time on Gladiators. 'When Gladiators came out, it was the ultimate challenge. But you’ve never seen anything like this,' he told The Sun. 'Humans pushed their limits. This is the ultimate, ultimate challenge. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. The scariest. And profoundly life changing.'
The vicar asked his parishioners to pray for guidance on his participation, adding that God 'loves a mountain and a tent'. Presenter Ben Shephard revealed he had to diffuse a fight between Furman and another contestant, calling it a 'very febrile situation' and 'incendiary'.
Furman attributed potential conflicts to the show's format: contestants receive the prize money in cash to be split evenly, but the first to reach the top wins it all. He said it 'had a way of bringing the worst out of people' and showed 'capitalism at its worst', as participants stop seeing each other as human and instead 'look at you as £20k'.
His appearance comes weeks after his ex-girlfriend Katie Price married for the fourth time, to Dubai-based businessman Lee Andrews. Furman, who dated Price in the late 1990s, recalled a past altercation at Epping Forest Country Club when a man winked at her. Since their split, Furman has married and has two children.
