Gladiators quarter-finals: Contestant Keeva Neely ready to show her strength

A gym owner from Northern Ireland is hoping to make it to the semi-finals as she appears on Gladiators this weekend.

Keeva Neely, from Swatragh in Co Derry, is ready to show off her strength and determination as she takes on Gladiators such as Cyclone, Viper and Nitro.

Ready to make her mark in the quarter-final on Saturday night, Keeva, who owns Storm NRG gym, said it was the "most insane" experience of her life.

Read more: Jodie Comer pictured exploring NI sights during break from filming

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster, the 24-year-old said that looking back on her time competing in the show almost doesn't feel real.

Keeva said: "It's so funny as well because in my gym, a lot of my members would have said, 'Keeva you should do that show you'd be brilliant', and you know, at the time you're just like 'oh yeah, yeah, yeah' but the fact that it actually turned to reality is crazy to me.

"You hear the crowd from backstage and you're like oh my God they're actually going to watch me probably fail this event soon - if you didn't laugh sometimes you'd cry so you just have to have a laugh at yourself."

Keeping tight-lipped about what happens in the quarter-final, which has already been filmed, Keeva said 'The Edge' was her favourite event which is when the contender races across an elevated grid, trying to reach the other side while the Gladiator attempts to push them off.

She continued: "It doesn't even look high, it is - I felt as if I was like literally on the Eiffel Tower or something it was crazy.

"When you look down, like obviously the netting is there, but it does not look as if the netting's there it's just kind of like an illusion... I wouldn't say I'm scared of heights, but yeah, I was scared of heights when I was up there in my heats."

Keeva said despite being left "battered and bruised" coming out of events like Gauntlet, she is ready to give her all to get to the next stage of the competition.

"You talk behind stage saying 'I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that', you see when that 'Contender's Ready' goes, that plan is out your ear - there may as well be no talk about it at all," she explained.

"It's just survival instinct."

She added: "In me, in certain scenarios, I still will get nervous and doubt myself, and they have definitely shown that you have to fake it till you make it and you have to be confident with what you do."

You can watch Keeva compete on Gladiators at 7pm on BBC One on Saturday, March 15

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