My dad was Wolf, the nasty one from TV’s Gladiators – now I’m ready to take on the mayhem he left behind
WITH his clawed stance and deathly stare, Wolf was the biggest baddie on telly in the Nineties.
Michael Van Wijk shoved over host Ulrika Jonsson, rugby tackled commentator Jeremy Guscott and pummelled contenders on Gladiators.
And now his son Dean wants to take over as the most feared man on the box when the test of speed and strength against the muscled regulars returns next year.
He has applied to be a Gladiator on the BBC’s revamped show and has already come up with a name — Wolf Cub.
Dean, 34, who lives close to his dad, 70, in New Zealand, tells The Sun: “I’ve always wanted to wear Lycra and chase people around.”
If he is asked to slip on his father’s tight-fitting blue vest it will be like stepping back in time, because he is the spitting image of Wolf. Dean has long hair, stubble, bulging muscles and crosses his arms grumpily just like Michael.
But has he the same bite as his howling mad dad? Michael thinks so.
He says: “I believe he can take the contenders to shreds like I used to.”
Wolf certainly did that during his time on the programme, which drew audiences of up to 16million.
No one was immune from his fury, with him even shouting at show referee John Anderson.
He is sure his fitness fanatic son has what it takes to deal with any member of the public willing to step into the arena with him.
Michael comments: “I know how fit and strong my son is. You’d be surprised just how fit he is. Also, he looks like me.
I asked: ‘Can I be bad’
“So I said to him, ‘Why don’t you go for it?’”
The original Wolf would like to go for it as well, confident that he can still knock out an opponent with a pugil stick.
Michael boasts: “I’d love to be a Glad. I can do every event because I’m super fit. But since I’m 70 years old I can’t see them letting me do it.”
Junior Wolf doesn’t quite have that level of self-confidence, admitting: “It’s a bit daunting to think about, especially because he was the number one with his character.
“But I’m up for it. I can’t be exactly the same as him but I will try bringing something else to the show.”
That was his dad’s attitude when he applied to be a Gladiator on the first series on ITV in 1992.
Age 40, he out-fought and out-thought his much younger rivals.
As a self-made businessman with a chain of gyms in London, Michael did not follow the pack.
While everyone else wanted to be cheered, he wanted to be booed.
Michael says: “I was in the producers’ office and I said, ‘Can I be bad?’
And they said, ‘No. We all want you to be squeaky clean, the good guys, because that’s the whole idea of the show’.”
But he persuaded TV bosses to let him give it a go — and the crowd lapped up his mean persona.
Ulrika was on the receiving end, both physically and verbally.
When Wolf performed badly once Ulrika told him: “That wasn’t very impressive, was it?”
He says: “I got the mic from her and I shouted out to all the people, ‘Do you know why I lost?’
“They all shouted, ‘Yeah’. I said it again. And they shouted again, and I said, ‘Just before we came out I saw Ulrika backstage with no make-up on — and I felt sick’.”
Equally, contenders regretted boasting that they could take Wolf down. He remembers one “cocky” decathlete who insisted he didn’t need to wear a neck brace on the show’s Suspension Bridge game where he had to try to not get knocked off by Wolf.
I believe Dean can tear the contenders to shreds like I used to. I know how fit and strong my son is.
Michael, AKA Wolf
Michael says: “I hit him so hard he landed on his neck. As they carried him off I said to him, ‘Don’t forget your neck brace’, laughing.
“I wouldn’t have hit him that hard unless I had to — but he deserved it.
“He didn’t want to carry on being on the show any more. That was it for him.”
Michael was a tough guy in real life as well, pinning down a thief who tried to steal his car in 1995.
And Wolf became so famous that he couldn’t walk down the street without being mobbed.
Even A-list celebrities were in awe of the gladiators.
Wolf recalls: “One time when I was at a bash Robbie Williams came running to me and said, ‘I’ve never missed a show. I’m one of your big fans. Can I have a picture with you?’
“I was like, ‘Oh, can I have a picture with you?’” Other big names were brave enough to try their luck in the arena against the Lycra-clad powerhouses during celebrity specials.
Smiling Wolf says: “They were totally out of their depth. Vinnie Jones was on Duel and he didn’t want to get knocked over.
“There were lots of different celebrities that came on Gladiators, but they were surprised, I think, and realised that everyone who watches it on TV thinks it’s easy.”
Born in Mumbai, India, and raised in South London, Michael was already a dad to Dean when he signed up for the show.
But he split from Dean’s mum Mariette Oepkes when Dean was a baby and later married Paula.
Michael set up a new family home in Orpington, Kent, while Dean went to live in Spain with his mum.
His dad visited him regularly and took Dean to see Gladiators being filmed in front of 10,000 fans at Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena.
Dean recalls: “I remember my dad taking me on the show. He made me a little Gladiator outfit.
I’ve got the long Wolf hair and I’ve got the look. The other day Dad was upset … he found out that my arms are bigger than his
Dean, AKA Wolf Cub
“He got me on his shoulders and ran around the arena with me. I remember the crowds screaming.”
Several contenders and Gladiators suffered serious injuries while making the show, some of which involved battling at height.
‘Every day is just a gift’
To this day Michael still has back pain which was caused by a 30ft fall.
He reveals: “I had a really bad injury from the pyramid game. It still hurts me now.
“I was on top of the pyramid and I threw this guy and fell with him on the crash mat 30ft below and I spun in the air.
“Now my back might go out for no reason a few times a year. Then I have to lie still the whole day until it returns to normal.”
While other Gladiators slipped into drink, drugs and even crime following the end of the show in 1999, Wolf didn’t go off the rails.
The father-of-four was able to keep in perspective the shift from TV celebrity back to the day job of gym owner.
Michael says: “I think every day is just a gift.
“I came from poverty. I used to get all my clothes from jumble sales and the kids would laugh at me saying, ‘What are you wearing?’
“When Gladiators came along it was the icing on the cake. I already had a house with a swimming pool and I had my chain of gyms because I had worked hard.
“Some say they can’t get one job, I say, no, you’re lazy. If I can get three, you can get one.”
Dean got the fitness bug from his dad at the age of 15 and is a personal trainer.
He says: “Even though I didn’t grow up with my father I’m pretty much the same as him.
“He’s not as mean as he is on screen.”
But he is just as competitive.
Dean adds: “The other day he was upset because he found out that my arms are bigger than his.”
Whether the younger Van Wijk will be part of the new Gladiator line-up is unclear.
Tens of thousands of wannabes have applied to try out for the series, which will air next year.
Those who don’t make the cut could end up as contenders challenging the champions — and if Wolf Cub appeared, he would surely attract fans old and new.
Certainly, when Dean posted an image on social media of himself dressed in his dad’s blue Lycra, followers were excited by the idea.
Dean says: “I’ve got the long Wolf hair like him and I’ve got the look.
“Dad thinks it’s amazing 30 years on people still want to see the show and his own son continue the legacy.”