Gladiators star Steel reveals son is ‘defying the odds’ after being born premature
He said his son was 'one hell of a strong boy.'
Gladiators star Steel has revealed his son is ‘defying the odds’ after being born prematurely.
The CrossFit athlete, 34, from Leicestershire, who won the title of the UK’s Fittest Man in 2020, joined the first series of the rebooted BBC show in 2024.
On Instagram, Steel, real name Zack George, revealed his partner Samantha George had given birth to their son at 23 weeks, weighing less than two pounds.
Steel said his son, who has been named Leo, was ‘one hell of a strong boy’ and was ‘tiny, fragile and fighting.’
He wrote: ‘Our Precious Boy Leo George.
‘You should still be tucked up inside mummy’s tummy but instead you entered the world on the 26th March 2025 at just 23 weeks weighing one pound eight ounces.
‘You never truly know how quickly your life can be turned upside down but one thing we do know is that you are one hell of a strong boy and you are already defying the odds.
‘Tiny, fragile and fighting.’
The post also contained photos of Samantha in a hospital bed with the baby on her chest, and medical staff around her.
The couple also share daughter Ivy.
In January, Samantha wrote on Instagram that Ivy was ‘very excited to have a new friend very soon’ while sharing pictures of their pregnancy scan.
Samantha and Steel are also parents to daughter Ivy (Picture: Instagram/Zack George)Steel earned his name through his ‘unbreakable strength’, ranking number 26 out of 126,461 on the global CrossFit leaderboard.
As a child, Steel said he was ‘really unhealthy’ and ‘really lazy’ before overhauling his lifestyle when he was 12.
He previously told Metro: ‘My dad could tell I was quite unhappy, I used to try and skip swimming lessons because I was so self-conscious of how I looked and didn’t take my top off.
‘I used to have McDonald’s and KFC three or four times a week, it was a really unhealthy lifestyle.’
Steel then embarked on a fitness journey and was considering a career as a rugby player before an injury forced him to stop.
Steel said his son is ‘one hell of a strong boy’ (Picture: Instagram/Zack George)Instead, he started CrossFit and has been a professional athlete for a decade.
‘It’s crazy looking back because when I was younger and overweight, I used to watch Gladiators and draw a pretend six pack on my stomach, because I could never think about ever having abs,’ Steel recalled.
‘I used to look at the Gladiators and they had such great six packs and my sister used to play the games in the living room, I’d draw muscles on my stomach and then would play like Duel and things like that. It was quite cool.’
Gladiators continues on Saturday at 5.50pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
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