SHE’S one of the fearless and inspiring Gladiators impressing the nation on the hit BBC One show.
But 29-year-old Diamond – real name Livi Sheldon – has opened up about being cruelly bullied in school due to her height.
The now-6ft-tall athlete said that people would make hurtful comments about her appearance throughout her childhood.
However, instead of letting it get to her, it inspired her to become “strong and powerful”.
Addressing a panel at The Sun’s HQ in London on Wednesday ahead of International Women’s Day, the talented Gladiator revealed: “I was bullied all the way through school because of my height.
“But that made me want to be strong and powerful and look at me now.
“Would I have gotten into training had I not been bullied, who knows?”
She has previously opened up on social media about how bullying over her height pushed her to binge on pizza and chocolate for comfort.
“When I first started training it was to ‘loose weight’, the training was never a problem for me… it was the diet,” she penned online.
“I struggled so many years with emotional eating, which I didn’t realise at the time but I do now.
“I would jump to a chocolate bar or pizza for comfort.
“It’s taken many years for me to see food as fuel and not as ‘food’ but once that clicked I understood.”
Livi, who can lift 160kg – the equivalent of a male gorilla – added that while bodybuilding helped her overcome her bullies it is not an easy place to be a woman.
“There was always a stigma, and there still is, when it comes to (female) bodybuilding,” she said.
“(There’s a stigma) around women being strong and having muscles but I just show you can be strong and powerful and be feminine.”
Leading the panel chat was legendary former Lioness and Arsenal player Lianne Sanderson who was joined by Livi, Paralympic swimming champion Ellie Simmonds, EnglandNetball Captain and qualified doctor Layla Guscoth and Chief executive of Women in Sport, Steph Hilborne.
During the talk, the five women in sport discussed their experiences of overcoming sexism in the industry to form successful careers.
Ellie revealed she was once left horrified when the man suggested that she might be better suited to the slow lane despite having ten world records in the sport to her name.
Meanwhile, Layla, 32, who has been playing netball for England for 13 years, revealed the shocking racism she suffered during a tournament in Australia.
“I had another black girl in my team and regularly people said incorrect things to us and we were mistaken for each other nationally on the news,” says Layla.
I was bullied all the way through school because of my height. But that made me want to be strong and powerful and look at me now
Livi Sheldon
Livi, who hails from Worcestershire, is capable of lifting an impressive 160kg and has impressed viewers with her ‘striking and indestructible’ strength.
After graduating with a degree in Sports Science, Livi took up bodybuilding.
Her hard work led her to become a British Finalist ‘England Toned Figure’.
Would I have gotten into training had I not been bullied, who knows?
Livi Sheldon
Always being a sporty child, Livi started being active from the age of six when she played football for a boys football team.
She went on to move over to a girls’ team, where she became captain for many years.
Livi then went on to play for Worcester City Ladies team.
Despite her extraordinary athletic prowess, Livi has previously said that joining the Gladiators was not about flaunting her abilities but rather about ‘inspiring others to embrace their uniqueness and encouraging people not to hide away.’
She said: “I feel like becoming a Gladiator is something I’ve been training for my whole life.
“From playing football when I was younger, through to swimming, and then going into bodybuilding.
“I feel like all of it has led me to this outcome of being a Gladiator. I do not think I would have had half the strength that I currently have if I hadn’t had all of my past experiences.”
