11:02am Thursday 8th May 2008
By Nick Mashiter
EXHAUSTED Lucy Boggis still cannot believe she is being paid to be a Gladiator.
The glamorous 19-year-old from Lower Stanton St Quintin makes her debut on Sunday as Gladiator Tempest when the show returns to the small screen after an eight-year absence, on Sky One between 6pm and 7pm.
Miss Boggis will be watching the opening night at a party with her co-stars and crew in London and is excited to see her efforts.
She said: "It is so much fun. "It's bizarre people are paying me to do it when I would do it for free.
"It is so hard though. I've had two days off in the last six weeks but when you come out on stage you have to perform and work with the crowd.
"You can't just do games like Hang Tough and then leave - it is mentally tough.
"But I am having so much fun and I can't wait to see what it is going to be like.
"I'm really, really excited. We have no idea how it is going to look because we were filming for six hours for each programme."
Dad Peter praised his daughter's commitment and hard work over the gruelling schedule when she filmed two episodes a day.
"They are working so hard and one day did about 21 hours," he said. "She rang us once at 1.15am saying she'd just got back to the hotel. They are pretty tired and I don't know how they keep it going.
"It has been a very tough six weeks, it is extremely physical, far more than I imagined."
The family, including mum Jane, sisters Kitty, 25, Charlotte, 23, and brother George, 21, have been to Shepperton Studios, London, where the show has been filmed over the last six weeks, to watch Lucy in action.
"Getting tickets is a nightmare, even for Gladiators - they can't get any," said Mr Boggis, who is inviting family and friends round to watch Sunday's screening.
"It's very good, but it takes a long time to shoot a show. They stop and move equipment but it will be fairly amazing on TV."
Seeing his daughter on billboards in the capital is still a shock to her father.
He said: "If you go to London and go on the Tube you see pictures of Tempest by the escalators. That is quite scary."
But Miss Boggis, who competes in the heptathlon and trains at Bath University, is just concentrating on making her family proud of her achievements.
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