Diane Youdale

Biography

Born in Middlesbrough to an astronomer father, Youdale grew up in the nearby town of Billingham, where she studied at the Billingham Campus School.

Youdale competed in gymnast events and was North of England Junior Gymnastics Champion for four years. One of her first television appearances was in the 1983 Thames Television show Junior Gymnast of the Year, where she finished in fifth place with 32.70 points.

She acted with the National Youth Theatre. She studied dance at London Contemporary School for Dance and was a member of the National Youth Dance Company. She also worked at Farnham Sports Centre before getting her big television break.

Gladiators

Youdale's first television appearance was in the series She-Wolf of London. She appeared on Gladiators from 1992 to 1996, leaving the show after hurting her back in a fall in an unaired show, her last domestic series was series 4 in 1995. She was competing on the pyramid and fell awkwardly as she tackled a contender, trapping nerves in her neck. She later stated:

“I was beginning to see more spinal injuries. You can damage your ankle or your knee and it will recover, but breaking your neck – that’s a different story. After my accident, I decided to quit while I could. I decided it wasn’t worth it any more. I wanted to leave while I could still walk out of the studio. I love hiking and I didn’t want that to be taken from me for the sake of someone’s entertainment.”

As a consequence of her injury, the pyramid was suspended for one series and a change in the rules was necessitated (which was later adopted for the 2008 revival of the American series).

Later career

Youdale developed her young fan base, becoming a children's television presenter as "The Games Mistress" on the video game show series Games World, and as a presenter on the game show series' You Bet! & Finders Keepers.

In the year 2000 Diane worked for a short period as a sports teaching assistant at the Royal School Haslemere specialising in dance and athletics.

A bulimic in her teenage years, Youdale trained as a psychotherapist and Pilates instructor. In April 2007 she appeared on the Trisha Goddard show on Five and in September 2007 she was correctly identified as a Gladiator on the BBC2 quiz show Identity.

On 2 July 2008 it was announced that Sky have plans to do several years of the revival of hit show Gladiators. Diane Youdale, following an interview with Loaded magazine quotes that "Sky reckon they're going to run it for three to four years so I've said to them why not wait until the last ever episode and then I make my comeback then?" she commented. However that will all depend on how well the show does in the ratings.

On 23 September 2008, she joined BBC Tees to start co-presenting the station's weekday 10.00–13.00 programme with Neil Green. She has a long association with the Middlesbrough-based station, her dad Jack Youdale having been the 'in-house' astronomer for its two previous incarnations, BBC Radio Teesside and BBC Radio Cleveland from the start of transmissions the same year Diane was born (31 December 1970).

Youdale appeared on Russell Howard's Good News in December 2010 as a mystery guest.

She appeared on the 19 April 2012 episode of Celebrity Juice. She also appeared on The Big Fat Quiz of the '90s in 2013.

She has appeared on the spin-off series Celebrity Big Brother's Bit on the Side and also Big Brother's Bit on the Side since 2013, analyzing the housemate's behaviour within the Big Brother House.

Personal life

Youdale married and resided for a period in the London area as she trained in psychotherapy. After separation and divorce, Diane spends her time between North East England and Surrey where she works as a psychotherapist and is launching her own EQ company Soul Dynamics. She enjoys long walks, exercising and is a keen surfer.