‘American Gladiators’ Star Michael Horton on the Sacrifices of Being Gemini: ‘You Lose Family Time’ (Exclusive Video)

thewrap.com:

ESPN has released an exclusive clip from a new two-part documentary that will shed light on the behind-the-scenes story of the famed reality competition show “American Gladiators.”From 1989 to 1996, “American Gladiators” was one of the most popular syndicated programs in television, a competition show that predated the reality TV era but used many of the same techniques to attract viewers. Every week, “amateur” contestants would go up against a cast of “professional” gladiators in a range of physical competitions, setting up David versus Goliath matchups that were popular with big television audiences but also earned considerable criticism for being “crash TV”. The documentary, which will debut on May 30 and 31 on ESPN and be made available on ESPN+ following its premiere, features original interviews with Johnny Ferraro, Deron McBee (‘Malibu’), Michael Horton (‘Gemini’), Lynn ‘Red’ Williams (‘Sabre’), the late William Billy Smith (‘Thunder’) and Salina Bartunek (‘Elektra’).

“What we were doing consumed us so much. You lose communication with the world, you lose some private time, you lose some family time,” Horton said in the clip. “I remember one Saturday.

I was obligated to stay later and sign autographs. You couldn’t even see the end of the line and I stood out there for hours signing as many autographs as I could. But after eight hours, I just couldn’t do it anymore.”Horton said that was the moment he told Johnny Ferraro that he wanted to be done and be with his kids.“He sat me down and said, ‘Mike, no one cares who Michael Horton is.

You’re Gemini to these people. Stop trying to be Michael Horton out here’,” he added. “Those moments let me know that I had to become Gemini and I was no longer Michael Horton.