Gladiators star Jet has claimed she attacked ex-wife Zoe Gilbert after feeling ‘bullied’ during their 18-month marriage, in which she developed an alcohol problem.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, the nineties pin-up, 54, real name Diane Youdale, admits she ‘snapped’ after claiming she was ‘pushed over the edge.’
The former TV star says the pair’s relationship reached a climatic point when Diane ‘pressed on her chest three times’ after Zoe had fallen over the back of a sofa during a vicious row.
Police were called to the property they shared in the North East and Diane was spoken to, but not arrested, and it proved to be the final straw for the couple a matter of weeks after they tied the knot in an intimate ceremony.
Diane also accuses teacher Zoe, 50, of turning her own family against her.
She even now believes their chance meeting in supermarket Tesco, when they first became acquainted, was actually a premeditated move by Zoe.
Gladiators star Jet has claimed she attacked ex-wife Zoe Gilbert after feeling ‘bullied’ during their 18-month marriage, in which she developed an alcohol problem
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, the nineties pin-up, real name Diane Youdale, admits she ‘snapped’ after claiming she was ‘pushed over the edge’
The former TV star says the pair’s relationship reached a climatic point when Diane ‘pressed on her chest three times’ after Zoe had fallen over the back of a sofa during a vicious row (pictured in 2023)
Super-fit Diane, who is now a counsellor and exercise coach, said she became ‘suicidal’ as her marriage crumbled, adding: ‘She never loved me… I was hoodwinked.’
She continued: ‘I was bait, I feel baited, I feel like I was chased by a wolf. I was absolutely played and now she’s trying to make herself famous because of it.
‘I am sickened to the core by her allegations. She wants to bring me down and dance on my grave.’
Describing how their relationship turned violent, Diane said: ‘Eventually, I snapped.
‘She fell over the back of the sofa. I pressed on her chest three times firmly and I said, “stop this now.” I can’t remember what happened then. The next thing I knew I was being led out by the police.
‘The living room was an absolute mess, there was coffee up the walls, writing all over the walls. She is claiming that I did all that, but I didn’t. I’m unsure what level of amnesia I must have had to block it out.’
The incident, which took place in 2023, happened at Zoe’s home where Diane lived until the couple ended their relationship.
She claims the nature of their romance made her feel so low that she contemplated ending her life.
MailOnline has contacted Zoe Gilbert for comment.
Super-fit Diane, who is now a counsellor and exercise coach, said she became ‘suicidal’ as her marriage crumbled (pictured in 1995)
Diane has admitted to picking up dangerous habits during her time with Zoe, including developing a reliance on alcohol
The former Gladiator claims the pair drank every night and rows would start around the same time, usually sparked by Zoe’s concerns over her ex-partners and current work colleagues
Diane continued: ‘I felt suicidal. She pushed me to the limit to suddenly make me the baddie, which is as clear as day now. She took pictures of her injuries, none of which I inflicted.
‘She has claimed I picked her up at the top of the stairs and threw her down but if anything, I have a disc rupture.
‘I would only lay hands on someone in rage if they were attacking a minor or an animal or in self-defence and I was never in self-defence around her. This was the final moment between us.’
Diane has lived a super healthy existence her entire life, which helped carve out a successful career on Gladiators, which relaunched last year on BBC One, back in the nineties.
Famous for her trademark hair flick and good looks, she became a hit with viewers – both male and female.
But she admits picking up dangerous habits during her time with Zoe, including developing a reliance on alcohol.
She said: ‘I stopped drinking in July last year and I haven’t touched a drop since. I am so proud of myself for that.
‘I could see what it was doing to me, and I stopped overnight, it served no purpose in my life, and I needed to be strong enough and clear enough with all my facts in the right place.
‘It was a terrible depressor, and I can’t believe I did it to myself for so long.
Diane and Zoe appeared on ITV’s Lorraine last year where they spoke about their love for each other (pictured in 2023)
Speaking on the daytime show, Diane said she ‘just knew’ Zoe was The One for her, describing their proposal happening over a ‘glass of wine’ (pictured in 2023)
Diane says after using alcohol as a coping mechanism through the tough time, she is now sober and hasn’t touched a drop since July (pictured in 2017)
‘I have no interest in alcohol, but I know that I won’t do that to my body ever again. I have my fitness and strength back. I have never been fitter or stronger than what I am now.’
She claims the pair drank every night and rows would start around the same time, usually sparked by Zoe’s concerns over her ex-partners and current work colleagues.
Diane said she would beg Zoe to stop and was desperate to move on from the toxic cycle of behaviour.
She explained: ‘Zoe was mainly getting at me about any past relationships I had with women.
‘I had been married in another lifetime very happily, very settled, very calmly and amicably.
‘It wasn’t my first rodeo, and I am good at long-term, settled and normal relationships.
‘That’s my relationship style but Zoe has never had that opportunity without it being full of drama. She wanted to create drama at night.
‘Usually between 9-9:30pm, the same record would come out, I would say, ‘Zoe this is getting repetitive, please stop this.’
‘She accused me of sleeping with all my clients, all my friends, can you imagine being accused of that? She never understood me and celebrated nothing about the triumphs or successes in my life.’
On the couple’s unhealthy relationship with alcohol, she added: ‘Every night when she was getting drunk and I was drinking, I was daytime drinking, and I’ll own that, maybe I was drinking self-consciously to self-medicate and block out what I knew was happening every night because it became a pattern.
The former athlete claimed Zoe turned her own family against her, going on to describe her heartache over her loved ones taking her partner’s side during their fallout
Jet, pictured alongside original Gladiators hosts Ulrika Jonsson and John Fashanu, starred on the long running series from 1992 to 1996
During her darkest days amid the sudden breakdown of her marriage, Diane says she found solace in remembering her late father, who she feels has been watching over her (pictured in 2019)
‘I told her that I noticed every night once she had passed a certain level of enjoying her wine, she would start a repeat cycle of getting at me for things I can’t change, like my past.
‘She spent most of our marriage pushing me into my past until I was pushed over the edge.’
Diane claimed Zoe turned her own family against her, going on to describe her heartache over her loved ones taking her partner’s side during their fallout.
She said: ‘The pack of people around her and I could list the names. It’s so harrowing what’s been happening.
‘My family has never once asked me about what happened or my side. I am astonished by them. I am let down by them.
‘Zoe is a professional victim. She is quite a small person and plays on “I’m only little.'”
Diane explained how the relationship she shares with her family has been fractured since she left her hometown of Billingham in County Durham aged 16, to pursue her dreams in London, which included gymnastics, dance, and becoming a TV star.
But during her darkest days amid the sudden breakdown of her marriage, Diane says she found solace in remembering her late father, who she feels has been watching over her.
She sobbed: ‘I hadn’t really lived with my family since I was child. I have always felt that my family were incredibly jealous because I had an amazing relationship with my late father, Jack, he was an astronomer and a brilliant man, an intelligent, beautiful soul.
Diane was previously in a relationship with former Gladiator co-star Hunter, real name James Crossley, during the show’s heyday
She also dated Sonia Strong for seven years before meeting Zoe in a supermarket
‘I miss him with all my heart. When I felt very dark, I felt him keeping me strong because I know he doesn’t want me to do something silly just because of her.’
Diane revealed she was in a relationship with Zoe in July 2023, surprising fans who assumed she was straight.
Indeed, she was previously married to TV exec George Mayhew and also dated fellow Gladiator Hunter, real name James Crossley, during the show’s heyday.
Diane described how she and Zoe met in a supermarket, a sweet story which captured the public’s imagination after the couple proudly told Lorraine viewers of their chance encounter.
However, she now claims: ‘Our meeting wasn’t by chance. She even stuttered on my surname.
‘It was then I had a little alarm bell, but I was so flattered after being approached in a supermarket and to be asked out on a date.
‘But the research had been done. She knew my past relationships. It was creepy and weird.
‘This had been contrived from the beginning by her, she knew where I would be in the supermarket and what time. I was naïve as hell.’
Diane proposed four weeks into their relationship and they married shortly after she went public with the romance and divorced exactly a year later in July 2024.
But Diane says their marriage was effectively over after just four months.
However, Zoe has strongly refuted claims of jealousy, instead pointing to Diane’s lack of honesty about her previous relationships.
‘I was continually lied to about these exes. I only found out about them when it came out in the press,’ Zoe told The Sun.
Zoe added: ‘I was upset because she hadn’t been truthful throughout the relationship. I had to find out about these previous partners in the papers.’
Diane said: ‘We were still technically married, we had to wait a full year until I could file for divorce, which I did and I’m glad I did.
‘It’s the one thing I felt I could take control back with and for me to get in there first. I thought the bullying would stop but it didn’t. I tried to remain amicable with her. I actually loved her, but I know for a fact that she never loved me. I was just a conquest.’
Diane now has massive regrets over settling down so quickly, adding: ‘I shouldn’t have proposed. I wish I had never proposed, and it was the shortest relationship I have ever had and the most regrettable.
‘I wish it never happened. I pleaded with her four weeks after I moved in with her, “please, stop this.”‘
