Local mom squares off on 'Gladiators'

Back when she was in charge of physical training for officer candidate school, Vanessa Warren's nickname was "Major Pain."

Tonight, the 35-year-old mother of three and major in the Air Force Reserve will have her own pain tolerance tested against Venom, Crush and Hellga in the arena on NBC's "American Gladiators."

"It's just phenomenal to walk into that arena," Warren said. "I don't think you get the whole impact on TV."

Warren, who lives with her family in Colorado Springs, taped the episode a couple of weeks ago. It airs at 7 p.m. today in the season premiere of the popular reality show, which pits ordinary contestants against a group of professional gladiators in a variety of oddball physical duels.

Warren was a fan of the old, syndicated version of "American Gladiators," so when she heard last fall that NBC planned to bring the show to prime time, she looked up local auditions and found one in Boulder two weeks later. After her audition, she got called back for a second interview, then flown to Los Angeles for a weeklong "boot camp" before she was chosen for the show. Only a handful of the 6,000 women who applied made the cut for this season.

"I was whooping and jumping around the house," Warren said.

Warren said her kids, 8-year-old Ryan, 6-year-old Alison and 4-year-old Eric, were as excited as she was about getting on the show.

"My kids have been doing nothing but playing ‘Gladiators,'" she said. "My 4-yearold puts on his football helmet and yells, ‘Contenders ready!'"

Although she's a part-time fitness instructor and coach, Warren is only 5-foot-2 and 120 pounds. On the show, she faced off against female gladiators who brought 160 pounds of pure muscle to the ring.

"It doesn't matter your size," she said. "If you have the heart, you can get out there and do it."

Warren can't say what happened on the show, but did say she escaped the arena mostly unscathed. She said her husband, Greg, actually had the hardest time of it, keeping the kids in line by himself for several days.

"I have one little burn mark on my arm," she said. "I'm feeling pretty good, actually."

The Warrens plan to have a viewing party tonight with friends.

"It was a blast," Warren said. "It was like being a WWE wrestler for a day."

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0275 or awineke@gazette.com

TO VIEW

"American Gladiators" airs at 7 p.m. today on NBC.