HellgaVision!!!!

What a whirlwind the past 3 months have been! From the call that I’d made it to training camp, to today; sitting at LAX waiting to fly to Dallas to do my first live celebrity appearance. Life can change pretty quickly, but I’m trying to stay ‘in the moment’ and enjoy it all, for who knows how long these things can last? Hopefully a long time! But I want to appreciate the gifts G-d has presented me to the fullest.

It is truly amazing that the journey of my life has finally come to fruition. Good people really can finish on top! I’m so excited with all of the opportunities being granted to me, I hope I can be a worthy recipient and worthy human of all the great things and responsibilities.

But rather than wax poetic for 5 hours, as I feel I could do, let me tell you what the past 2 weeks have been like!

First, the media… I have been so blown away by my reception by the general public and Gladiator Fans everywhere! I’ve laughed, cried, gotten a kick out of people who write crazy things… I am everywhere and it blows my mind completely. .

Seeing myself on TV as an American Gladiator has been beyond belief. I really have wanted this since I was a kid, and to see myself kicking butt in a skirt, looking like a Nordic schoolyard badass, is pretty cool! At the premier party Jan 6 I had to hold back the tears when the intro played and I walked across that stage with flames, the crowd roaring, and Hulk Hogan announcing “the Amazing HELLLLLLLGA!!!!” The Hulkster has been so great with us… and who wouldn’t think that was awesome?!?

On Jan 15 I did the Carson Daly show. My first talk show ever, and it’s a big deal! I want to parlay my opportunities into doing comedy, so doing a late night show on NBC thrilled me beyond belief. That morning I’d done a whirlwind radio ‘tour’, where I phoned from my home and got to speak to DJs in 20 cities around the country! I was glad to have had such a fabulous warm up.

I get to the studio and am treated like royalty, which is still pretty shocking but very cool! Got to meet a few bands (Carson, coming from Mtv’s TRL, features bands and even discovers them). We had a lot of fun with my interview - I even got to whack the poor guy with my Giant Jousting Q-Tip! It was a total blast and I hope to do it again, hopefully incorporating some skits with the show as well.

2 days later, I was one of 4 Gladiators invited to do the hit game show Deal or No Deal! Mom might not completely love seeing me whack people as a Gladiator, but she loves this show! Titan, Mayhem, Wolf & Hellga was the chosen clan. We did a fun stunt, then assisted the contestant in his dramatic decision making – if it’s exciting to watch on TV it’s 1000% more exciting in person! The models were all very cool – boy was I envious when I saw the clothes & shoes closet!!!! I need one like that! Just supersize me. =)

Simultaneously, we interviewed for Access Hollywood, mine done with Mayhem…. The Texas kids have done well for themselves! I think we have this infectious excitement when we talk about it all.

Then I shot a piece for the tabloid style show The Insider, which comes on CBS. Driving to Paramount Studios as a star rather than someone wanting a tour from a buddy who works there was such a sense of accomplishment – as everything has been. Crush was there too – we got to joust one another outside in the area where so many huge feature films have been done. I remember vaulting myself up on the platform and just taking that minute to smell the air, feel the breeze, smile at all of the interns who surrounded us to play ‘audience’. Holy crap! I’m filming something at Paramount! It was akin to the first day of walking on the Sony (formerly MGM) lot and realizing I’d really, really done it. These are the moments in time you have to remember every single solitary detail of.

That same day we got together with Laila Ali, along with Crush of course, Wolf, Mayhem and Titan. A photo shoot for People promoting Laila’s cooking, we had a fun time getting to chill out with each other rather than the usual attempt at conversation between hair makeup and wardrobe! It was that gorgeous California day I’d noticed at Paramount. Mayhem and I were talking to the People Magazine reporter, standing near a cliff overlooking the Valley with Palm Trees in the background and the breeze…. Another frozen moment. Even the reporter said we looked very majestic and Californian standing there – and we 2 Texans just smiled. It’s hard to feel homesick for rainy & humid Houston on a day like that. That magazine is out as of yesterday, just so you know.

Yesterday Titan and I did a photo shoot for OK magazine – the London based magazine with a new edition in the US market. Done on location at the fabulous Mondrian hotel, at restaurant Asia De Cuba, he and I had a lot of fun goofing around and trying the awesome fish they brought us. I even had a sip of a martini with an orchid in it! Not a straight one – a fruity apple-ish martini that tasted dangerously delicious. The photographer showed me a few of the pics, - they should be gorgeous! I stayed behind for a fantastic dinner and a very Hollywood type of evening.

And forward to today – I’m waiting to board a plane for Dallas to appear at a Health and Fitness Expo representing American Gladiators! I’m really looking forward to signing autographs and seeing all the kids… and to my buddies from high school driving up from Houston to see me!!!! For a long time my friends have thought I was slightly out of my gourd trying to achieve the impossible dream in Los Angeles. They’ve humored me a lot, listening to the dreams, listening to the struggles and drama I’ve been thru… but if I may take the liberty for speaking for them, I think I’ve got some very proud friends!

The only bad thing is that my parents can’t make it up, but they are also very proud and it feels great. Really great. Hi mom!!!!

Til next time
R