Abusivepartner leftmewithtwo blackeyesbuti battledback tobecomea Gladiator

Trust in yourself and your own ability to overcome adversity

mately a court date, a restraining order nd I had a couple of black eyes.

“It fell to bits and my front door had een kicked in and the police arrived and here was a person-shaped hole in my edroom wall.

“The destructive nature of that eightear relationship took its toll.

“At the end of it I was a size 16, four ress sizes larger than I had ever been. “I was very unhappy and I was definitely ot the person I knew I could be.

“I was weak and I had no friends any more because I had isolated myself or had been isolated from that group. My mum, who is a sergeant in the army, said to me, ‘You are going to get strong and the next time someone has the audacity to raise a hand to you, you are going to raise one right back’.”

She added: “It was a learning curve and unfortunately I learned the hard way. From that moment I literally just decided I would get the old me back and I would never suffer again.

“I’m under no illusion that I’m the only one who has went through that. There are so many women out there, and men, who have been in a relationship where they haven’t been nurtured and have lost their way.

“It’s important that we offer help to those people.

“One thing that shapes the greatness in you is adversity. I honestly don’t think I knew how strong I was until all I had left was to be strong.”

Ahead of the show, Sheli described herself as a “grafter” and revealed she trains 16 to 19 hours a week.

She has competed in five British weightlifting championship events and numerous Crossfit championships worldwide and has simultaneously been a Scottish champion in both sports.

She runs a gym in Dundee, hoping to inspire future generations to reach their full fitness potential.

The first episode of the Gladiators reboot on BBC One drew in a huge UK audience of 8.7 million.

It represents the biggest launch of a new entertainment series in the country for seven years.