Michael Van Wijk (born in Bombay, India, 30 September 1952), is a professional sportsman, bodybuilder, actor and TV presenter in the United Kingdom. Van Wijk is most well known for his role as Wolf on British TV endurance sports game show Gladiators, a role he held for seven years (1992-1999). Van Wijk now owns a gym in Auckland, New Zealand called "Wolf's Gym," where he now resides.
He was also known to video game players for appearing on the cover of the computer game Barbarian. He was also a victim of the 'animals' edition of the TV show Brass Eye. Michael Van Wijk was spotted by a member of the Gladiators production team shortly before filming began on the first television series in 1992. He once stated on Gladiators that his favourite television show was Star Trek.
Van Wijk used to run a gym in Hayes in Bromley, London called 'Wolf's Gym'. It was open until the late nineties and included facilities geared towards body builders, wrestlers and boxers. In October 1994 he played one match for the reserve team of Gillingham F.C., playing for 73 minutes in a match against Cambridge United's reserves before going off injured. The match attracted a crowd ten times the average for the club's reserve team games.
In 1988, Van Wijk appeared in a small, featured role in Ken Russell's film Salome's Last Dance.
In 2006, short of cash, Van Wijk famously tried to take frivolous legal action against food giants Pot Noodle, over the use of the name, 'Bombay bad boy'. This was a name Van Wijk had been associated with since he was aged 14, being born in Bombay and having a 'bad boy' reputation. The lawsuit was dropped as Van Wijk did not have the money to fund lawyers.
Van Wijk, second wife, Paula, and their three children (Nico, Gina and Elena) live in Auckland, New Zealand. According to a report in the Sunday Mirror, his wife once owned "Chipmunks Playground and Cafe", an indoor adventure playground for 3-12 year olds, now sold.
Most recently he appeared on the Gladiators Legends Special where he took part in alongside Ace, Hunter and Trojan. But the standing ovation Wolf received when he reappeared in the Gladiator arena was said to have lasted for five minutes, holding up filming of the show and forcing producers to quieten the crowd. Sky could not deny any further the British public's desire for Wolf's return, and after Loaded magazine's campaign to bring the character back, Sky announced on August 29, 2008 that Wolf would return in the second series."It was like I'd never been away." said Van Wijk. "The audience was explosive and phenomenal and clearly wanted more of the Wolfman." However, he was to be a team captain rather than an actual Gladiator. The revived Gladiators was axed by Sky in May 2009.
In March 2009, Van Wijk appeared as a hospital chef in the New Zealand television soap opera "Shortland Street".
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