Cyclone, the first-ever Irish Gladiator, had a strong message for women and young girls on Friday night's Late Late Show, saying that she wanted to inspire them to take up space "unapologetically".
The Enniscorthy native, whose real name is Lystus Ebosele, told host Patrick Kielty that "it feels good" to have joined the revived BBC series Gladiators, making history as the first Gladiator from Ireland.
"It feels good, it's such a great show because it has such a massive legacy from the original series, but I feel like it was almost made for me," she said with a jokey flex of her arm.
The Wexford star made the switch from academia to powerlifting and holds a world record for her combined squat, bench and deadlift weights.
Her confidence has grown as she has progressed in competitive sports.
"I think when you put in a lot of work - I train really hard - there's no reason not to be confident," she told Kielty.
"Up until now, I've been doing powerlifting, I've been competing, so when you stack up a few wins you can back up what you say."
She said her parents are "so proud" of her.
"When I made the switch from academia to sports, my mum was like, 'Are you sure about that?' But she's come around now and everyone is so proud of me," she shared.
Cyclone described the reaction of people back home to her Gladiators success as "overwhelming".
"The teachers are saying: 'We're so proud of you'. I feel so loved. Everyone in Enniscorthy is so happy," she said.
Kielty asked what message she would like to send to women and young girls watching the show.
"I would say one thing Cyclone epitomises is taking up space. I'm a new Gladiator so it would be so easy to get into the corner, but taking up space and doing it unapologetically," Cyclone said.
"And not letting anyone dim your light was well. If people think you're a villain for that, so be it.
"Some people do, but I'm just straight-talking and I'm very confident and I just like to go for what I'm doing and do it unapologetically."
And when asked if she could take on Gladiator II leading man Paul Mescal, Cyclone was unequivocal.
"Oh 100%", she replied without hesitation.
"He definitely has a stunt double, all the Gladiator stuff is me doing it myself, so I could 100% take him."
The Late Late Show, Friday nights at 9.35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
