Warren Furman and his wife Dionne have been ordained (Picture: Ace Active/Facebook)
Former Gladiators favourite Warren Furman has completed a drastic career changed and got ordained as a vicar.
The 51-year-old star – best known as Ace on the original hit 1990s series and previously engaged to Katie Price – has officially swapped contestants for a congregation after getting ordained alongside his wife Dionne.
The couple will both take up a church role after their ordination at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, which was performed by Dame Sarah Mulally, Bishop of London.
‘I’ve gone from TV’s Gladiator to God’s gladiator, while Dionne has gone from flying high as a cabin crew manager with Virgin Atlantic to reaching for the sky in the name of Jesus,’ he told The Sun.
Warren’s two children Bailey, 20, and Anna, 18, were in attendance along with other family and friends, and he was overwhelmed by the special day.
He added: ‘I was absolutely blown away with everything that happened. I couldn’t believe I was standing there next to my wife. It was a magical day for the pair of us.’
Warren is best known as Ace on Gladiators in the 1990s (Picture: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Warren explained he is now ready to focus on his ‘faith’ in God.
He said: ‘While I was in the TV show, I always put my faith in myself. Now I put my faith in God.’
The new vicar will be posted at Holy Trinity Prompton in North Kensington, and he won’t be forgetting his roots as his stole even featured a special nod to his past with a gladiators helmet.
Back in the 1990s, Warren was taking part in athletic and physical tasks against contenders on the classic game show, while he was engaged to glamour model Katie Price in 1997.
Warren was engaged to Katie Price in the 1990s (Picture: EMPICS Entertainment/PA Photos)
He proposed with a £3,000 ring, but has since admitted the relationship wasn’t always positive.
‘We were both deriving our identities from being relevant in the media,’ he said on This Morning in 2019. ‘We were both selling stories.’
He once said he was in ‘a club of people who had had a lucky escape by not marrying Katie.’
Warren’s life has changed since his rise to fame in the 1990s (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
After starting on his path to become a Church of England vicar, he confessed he regrets some of his words and actions.
‘It was selfish, It’s not the way I think now. I have great admiration for her. I know how difficult it is being a parent,’ he told The Sun.
‘If I see a picture of her in the papers and magazines, I pray that she would know God as I do and realise that her identity doesn’t have to be in altering her body or having operations. God loves who she is,’ he added.
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