Katie Price once described her relationship with Gladiators star Ace as “toxic” – but nearly three decades on, former fiancé Warren is back in the spotlight for very different reasons, as a contestant on The Summit.
Ace, real name Warren Furman, is now competing on ITV’s brutal new reality series The Summit, hosted by Ben Shephard. The former 90s TV hunk was engaged to Katie back in the height of his Gladiators fame. He’s now taking on one of the toughest challenges of his life – years after walking away from celebrity culture altogether.
The new series, which kicked off on ITV this week (February 10), sees 14 strangers attempt to trek across unforgiving mountain terrain in New Zealand. They’ll face punishing physical trials and ruthless strategic decisions as they race to reach the summit within 14 days. A cash prize of up to £200,000 at stake.
But Warren is no stranger to racing uphill – quite literally during his Gladiators days on the travelator. Now 53, the father of two is the oldest competitor in the gruelling challenge. He’s also the only vicar…
The Summit star Warren Furman – from Gladiators to the priesthood
Bodybuilder Warren became a household name in the 1990s when he appeared as Ace on Gladiators. He was on the show for four series. He said previously that he found the celebrity culture around Gladiators “destructive”.
“I went from literally having nothing to everything overnight and I became a celebrity. You become public property and I wasn’t ready for that at all,” he told The Sun recently.
He also told Premier Christian Radio of his decision to turn his back on the spotlight: “Newspapers and magazines were offering me money on a daily basis for photos and stories. Suddenly everything is up for grabs. That does something to your soul in the end. Life was a party, but I was picking up a lot of destructive habits.”
Katie Price engagement and her ‘path to death and destruction’
It was during his time on Gladiators that Warren met Katie Price, then known by her glamour modelling alter ego Jordan. The pair met in 1996 and got engaged the following year, before ending their relationship in 1999.
Looking back, Warren said the pressure of sudden fame took its toll. The pair also frequently sold stories to the papers about the sex life.
“We both came from working-class families and were hustling for a few quid. We were put into a lifestyle where people had everything and we were absolutely petrified we would lose it. So we made some dubious decisions together. It jeopardised our relationship,” he said.
Katie – now married for the fourth time – has since referred to the romance as “toxic”. Writing in her autobiography, she said: “I won’t go into that one too much but he admitted he was horrible to me and that the relationship was toxic.”
After the split – and his exit from Gladiators – Warren turned to religion. At the time, he said he hoped Katie would find faith to save her from what he described as a “path that leads to death and destruction”.
More recently, however, he softened his stance. Speaking to The Sun in 2024, Warren said: “If I see a picture of her in the papers and magazines, I pray that she would know God as I do and realise that her identity doesn’t have to be in altering her body or having operations. God loves who she is.”
From Gladiators to becoming Reverend Warren Furman
In a dramatic career U-turn, Warren swapped fame and fortune – at one point earning £2k an hour – for the priesthood.
After finding faith, he trained as a Church of England vicar and is now associate curate at a church in Hammersmith, west London. His wife Dionne, whom he met in 2000, is also a curate. The couple share two grown-up children, Bailey and Annabel.
Warren has said he felt “empty spiritually” during his celebrity years, adding that discovering faith gave him a sense of purpose he had never found in fame.
The Summit is ‘the hardest thing he’s ever done’
Although Warren is already emerging as one of the strongest competitors, he admitted filming the show – which took place at the end of 2024 – pushed him to his absolute limits.
He revealed he even asked his parishioners to pray over his decision to take part. “This is the ultimate, ultimate challenge,” he told ITV. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. The scariest. And profoundly life-changing.”
Asked why he signed up, Warren said: “I believe that life begins at the end of your comfort zone. Gladiators was the ultimate challenge, but this is something else entirely. I want to test the mettle.”
Read more: Ben Shephard reveals shock reason filming on The Summit was repeatedly halted
The Summit is on ITV1 Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 9pm.
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