Diamond: From Little Princess to American Gladiator

[00:00:00] Intro: welcome to Chilling With Ice with me, Lori Fedrick, or most of you know me as Ice from the American Gladiators. Thank you for joining me on this podcast where we're gonna dive in and go behind the scenes on the number one hit iconic show of the nineties. It's time to get up close and personal on what drove us to be gladiators, what challenges we faced, and how we overcame to reach all of our.

[00:00:28] Intro: I know in this first season, inquiring minds wanna know, was their drama fight hookups? Are we all still friends? What did we do in our personal lives? And how are we staying in such good shape years later? Well, stay right here and let's get into chilling with ice.

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[00:01:32] Lori: Okay, let's dive in.

[00:01:35] Lori: Welcome back to Chilling With Ice. I'm so excited today to have a very special guest because of the fact that I've been trying to get this girl on my podcast for three months now. I am so happy to have her. And that is Erica on dash, and that is, she played Diamond on the American Gladiators.

[00:01:54] Lori: So thank you so much, Erica, for coming on my podcast today.

[00:01:58] Diamond: It's a pleasure. And you're right, you, you did chase me down and I, it's so good to be here and it's great to see you. Oh

[00:02:06] Lori: my God, thank you so much for coming on. So let's go to, um, we're gonna do a little, do a little backstory for everyone because of the fact that, I mean, we have all kinds of Gladiator fans out there, but there are people listening to the podcast that actually don't know your backstory.

[00:02:22] Lori: So kind of like, you know, where you're born and you know where you grew up. And um, basically, I know you got into bodybuilding, so let's go there and then we'll start with some questions.

[00:02:31] Diamond's Story

[00:02:31] Diamond: Right. So, um, I am actually a first generation here from my mother who was born in Europe. And, uh, I was brought up in a very small town back east.

[00:02:49] Diamond: Uh, my mom was German, and uh, so I was brought up very European. Uh, we were brought up to teach only German and, and, and talk only German in the house. Wow. So, yeah. So our regiment was very strict. Okay. Uh, from both parents. Mm-hmm. And so, um, you know, we, we had a lot of fun. Uh, but, but our fun entailed, like family activity, like hiking, um, canoeing, camping, um, uh, Things like that.

[00:03:26] Diamond: How fun we had, we had friends, but we were never really able to go to a concert or anything like that. Mm-hmm. So it was, it was strictly family and, um, boy, you did what you told.

[00:03:39] Lori: I was kind of brought up that way as well. Oh.

[00:03:43] Diamond: Um, I didn't mind, you know, in hindsight, um, it was good, especially growing up in a small town, so to say that, you know, we did a lot of skiing too.

[00:03:52] Diamond: Every winter we had, um, a ski slope right up the street from our home. So we would put our skis here and carry our boots in the other hand and walk right up to the hill and go skiing every winter. So we were a family full of activity. Oh, that's so cool. Yeah. And if we weren't doing anything like that, we were cutting down the trees on my grandma's property.

[00:04:16] Lori: So you were, you were active the entire time you were in your childhood.

[00:04:21] Diamond: Yeah. For the fireplace and stacking it and everything was proper. And when we were going hiking, dad would buy us all new, new boots and he would call them shit kickers. And he said, now you have to weigh them for a couple of weeks in the yard and break them in.

[00:04:36] Diamond: So, you know, we thought okay, we were cool because we all had new shit kickers. Nice. Um, yeah, so, so you know, when we weren't doing that, we were working in the yard. Mm-hmm. Raking leaves, we had a lot of property. Mowing the lawn. So you're building snowmen,

[00:04:54] Lori: so you're physically active your entire childhood

[00:04:57] Diamond: All the time.

[00:04:58] Diamond: Yeah. Yeah. And if not outside, inside. Okay. Cleaning, you know, cooking, working. Right. Um, studying. So, you know, I think one of my favorite activities was. Uh, when I was, uh, cramming, like the rowboat in the lake Uhhuh. Um, and I remember when I was very small, I remember as I was rowing, I looked at my bison and I was quite young.

[00:05:28] Diamond: I mean, I must have been about 12. Mm-hmm. And I said, wow, look at that muscle. I was so impressed. Right. And cause I was very, very lean too. Um, so, you know, then my life went on a bit and I never thought I would really enjoy sports or anything like that. I had a sister that did, but I kind of always shunned away from it.

[00:05:54] Diamond: You know, I, well, because I wanted to be more of a little princess. You are a princess at that time. So I'm like, well, no, I'm, I'm not gonna play sports. I don't, you know, princesses don't do that. Mm-hmm. So then, you know, later on I, um, started working out in the gym just because I needed that, that momentum.

[00:06:17] Diamond: I needed that feeling in my body. Mm-hmm. Um, as I did when I was much younger. Mm-hmm. So now we're talking, you know, I was well into my twenties when I started working out. Um, then I met someone and, and, and I entered my first contest and everything just took off from there. Wow.

[00:06:37] Lori: Did you win your first

[00:06:38] Diamond: contest?

[00:06:38] Diamond: I did. And the person already had a dozen red roses ready. And I thought, okay, was this fixed? I dunno, it couldn't have been though. But, um, yeah, it was like that. And

[00:06:51] Lori: I saw, then of course I saw some bodybuilding photos of you and you. You had a beautiful bodybuilding, like physique, you know? So, I mean, I could see where, I mean, I remember when I first did my show and I looked in the mirror and I was like, I didn't know I could do this.

[00:07:09] Lori: You know? I didn't realize I could build the muscle that way. So when you were competing, um, did you wanna go, did you wanna go pro after you started going and, you know, competing into the, you know, the basically, you know, the different, um, whatcha call it? Events? Yeah.

[00:07:29] Diamond: Yeah. The competitions. Yeah. Yeah. Um, thank you.

[00:07:32] Diamond: Also, by the way, I think, um, I was just so over overjoyed, joyed with winning. Mm-hmm. Um, I never thought about taking it to another level. I had no idea that it was gonna just skyrocket from there. Hmm. I had, yeah, I had, because I hadn't, yeah, I hadn't because I really. It was never competitive, you know? So anyhow, after that, um, I came out to California.

[00:08:07] Diamond: Okay. Uh, but there were some connections that were made. Mm-hmm. Before the trip out to California. Um, there was a nice lady who owned a gym and she, you know, knew how to help people get in shape. I ended up staying in San Diego with her for several months. Then I met Steve Strom. Oh yeah. And that gang, you know, that whole gang, um,

[00:08:31] Lori: Steve and Ralph Dahan and, um, he's

[00:08:35] Diamond: sweetheart, Ralph Dahan is great.

[00:08:36] Lori: Oh yeah. All of 'em.

[00:08:38] Diamond: Yeah, yeah, exactly. The whole shebang. Yep. And so what was interesting was, um, I was never in the limelight and, uh, Steve Strom. Was great with the photo, with the camera, you know, with photography. Oh yeah. And, but he started putting me in magazines with his connections. Mm-hmm. And, and then I think it was Dearth Horton.

[00:09:07] Diamond: Do you remember him? Who was that? In Gold's Gym? He was more or less the guy that sat upstairs at Gold's Gym in Venice. Mm-hmm. And he had, um, like a little management come. So he helped people get into commercials or go to a casting and things like that.

[00:09:28] Lori: See, I never got the opportunity to actually train down in Venice Gold's, because I lived in the Valley.

[00:09:34] Lori: So I lived in the Valley and I, I trained in Pasadena, and it was always like, you know, I mean, going from Pasadena down to Gold's Gym in Venice was always like, you know, with traffic here in LA it's like an hour away it seems like. So I would go down there maybe, I don't know, once every three months, but I always wonder, it's like, God, I wonder if I had trained down there, if there would've been a, I don't know, like more opportunities I guess, you know, because they sure in the heck weren't up in the valley.

[00:10:00] Diamond: Yeah, I think for sure, because all of my opportunities came out of there. Yeah. Everything. And yeah, it was probably one of the highlights of my life because it was my second home, literally. Mm-hmm. Because I trained. Four hours a day. Okay. Six days

[00:10:24] Lori: a week. Okay. So coming from, uh, a point of view of being a princess into training four hours a day, what happened?

[00:10:34] Lori: Where was that transition?

[00:10:37] Diamond: What happened? Well, I suppose it's because, um, I was sort of opening doors mm-hmm. And people that I was with, they were opening doors for me, and I liked that. I, I liked, you know, taking that step. Mm-hmm. Okay. And it was glamorous. Mm-hmm. Because, um, I mean, these people that I met, there were, um, they were very, very established.

[00:11:10] Diamond: Mm-hmm. People, um, big time. I'm talking about, you know, producers, I mean directors, I mean, Top of the line actors and actresses and such. But I never felt, um, competition. I always maintained my place. Mm-hmm. You know, I was very content, I was very happy with my place and I always felt like, um, you know, I'm just another one taking up space here as well as all of these others.

[00:11:46] Diamond: I never, um, in other words, I didn't, uh, you know, Google, not Google, I don't wanna say, but, you know, GK Right. Over people that I met that were in the business. Gotcha. Because it, it just never, you know, came across me Right.

[00:12:06] Lori: In that way. Mm-hmm. So how did Gladiators find you? Or how did you find gladiators?

[00:12:13] How did American Gladiators found Diamond?

[00:12:13] Lori: This episode's actually sponsored by

[00:12:16] Lori: iceteeshirts.com

[00:12:17] Lori: and you can get your OG gladiator hat. You can get your OG t-shirt, you can get chilling with ice hats, chilling with ice t-shirts. I have all kinds of fun stuff on it. So go to iceteeshirts.com today.

[00:12:32] Diamond: That's a good question. Um, so it was Derek Barton who sits up top of Venice, the top of Bull's gym in Venice. And he, um, came down one day and he found me downstairs working out and um, he said, you know, I have something for you if you're interested. It's a casting. Um, he said, Shari, as a matter of fact is going on the casting as well.

[00:13:02] Diamond: You know, I don't know what it is exactly, but you might wanna go. Then I found out that it was actually someone from production that had seen me in the magazines. Mm-hmm. And uh, you know, called for me to go in. Yeah. So that's how it happened. Um,

[00:13:25] Lori: so what were your tryouts like? Did you have to try out or was it a casting call?

[00:13:31] Diamond: It, it, it wasn't just a casting call, it was physical and casting because, you know, I, I actually spoke with, um, Samuel Goldwin and he was there and he was watching, he was watching everyone. Right. So, excuse me. So, um, no, go ahead. Oh, that's good. So I went, I really had no idea what it was gonna be like. Um, well, I I do recall it was at Universal Studios.

[00:14:09] Diamond: No. And I remember, mm-hmm.

[00:14:12] Lori: Let me ask you this. I, I'm wondering if you tried out exactly the same time I tried out,

[00:14:18] Diamond: did you go to Universal Studios?

[00:14:20] Lori: It was at the back lot. Mm-hmm. And there was like 75 to 80 women and they were putting us through like tug of war. Assimilated kind of power ball game. They had to, they had us run the 40 yard dash, things like

[00:14:37] Diamond: that.

[00:14:39] Diamond: Okay. That's quite possible. I don't recall having to compete against the 40 yard dash, um, I didn't do the pull-ups, but I was told that there were thousands of people that had applied and that flew in from all over the nation on that day. Okay. And it was so crowded and there was so much going on in different areas mm-hmm.

[00:15:03] Diamond: Of the backlog. Um, all I know is where I was, there was, uh, the producer, there was, um, lace and there was Samuel Goldwin.

[00:15:18] Lori: Okay. So it had to be a different day then. Yeah. Cuz Lace wasn't there when I was trying out. Oh, so it was a different day. She was

[00:15:26] Diamond: already on the show. Yeah. By the way. Okay. Mm-hmm. So it could have been her second season.

[00:15:31] Diamond: Right. Um, so the only thing that I did was, um, tug of war. And I remember the gal, I don't recall her name name right now, but um, you know, she was definitely bigger than me cuz I was teeny then. Mm-hmm. Um, but remember climbing trees, remember the rowboat? Yep. And me looking at my, my bicep, my back was always so strong growing up.

[00:16:04] Diamond: Mm-hmm. Like, you know, incredible. And I used to do tug of war at home on my front yard, um, with people, but, so there was hot top and there was sand on the hot top. So they said tug of war. And I pulled her. And she couldn't hold it. Nice. And so I pulled her whole body. I didn't mean to, but she scraped up the whole entire side of her leg.

[00:16:39] Diamond: All the way up from the sand. Yeah. And I kept pulling her. I didn't realize my adrenaline's going, and I didn't realize I

[00:16:47] Lori: just pulling her, you're just pulling her across the parking lot.

[00:16:51] Diamond: Well, it wasn't, I don't know, maybe 10 feet. Right. But not for her to get hurt. And then she had a lot of, you know, striations.

[00:17:01] Diamond: Right. A lot of red. I bet. So anyway, that was that. But then, um, they asked me, uh, if you were a gladiator, what do you think it it would take to be a good gladiator? So I, I just said, I think that it would take, uh, Stamina. And I said it would take good character. I remember saying that. Well, come to find out, Sam o Baldwin liked it when they said good character.

[00:17:33] Diamond: Mm-hmm. And honest to God, he would not leave my side that day. He, he liked you. And so he liked me, but he liked me like a grandpa. Mm-hmm. You know, he was so sweet and kind, and he was so down to earth. Mm-hmm. And um, there was some riffraff going on. You know, there were some people that didn't want me on.

[00:17:56] Diamond: Did you know that? No. I had

[00:17:58] Lori: no I idea. Yeah. That's

[00:18:01] Diamond: sad. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There were some people that already were on the show and that worked even behind this. Scenes, but it was, he fought for me. Sam Will did. He said, uh, no, she's gonna be on the show. That's awesome. So it was really him

[00:18:17] Lori: that brought you on.

[00:18:18] Lori: So what was it, what was it like your first day walking on set? I know you've been asked this question before, but what was it like walking on set the first day for you?

[00:18:27] The First Season

[00:18:27] Diamond: Um, yeah, I, I knew I was gonna get the job, um, because I had, had, had a dream about it. So I, I was prepared. So when I walked on the first day, I remember I still wanted to be the little princess inside, right?

[00:18:52] Diamond: So, oh God. So I remember, um, wearing the regular sneakers, everyone else did when I wore these little thin socks. That had lace on the top. Mm-hmm. And I folded the lace down so that I could be different than all the girls that had on these real thick socks that are rolled. Um, because I, you know, I found out about the wardrobe.

[00:19:18] Diamond: Mm-hmm. And so, um, we already had our costume at that time. Um, I guess we must have gone for measurements. Right. And I remember, uh, there was gold. Um, I think there was, uh mm-hmm. And I think it may have been you. Mm-hmm. And if it wasn't you, then it was lace. Right. And so you girls were, I just remember seeing a lot of red everywhere, like, what's all this red?

[00:19:56] Diamond: You know, like, was the carpet red? It was red, red, red, red. And we were sitting in front of the wall. Mm-hmm. You girls were there and I walked over to you. Um, and there really wasn't, um, an immediate connection mm-hmm. You know, with any of the girls except for gold. Mm-hmm. Um, so I, maybe she wanted to be a princess too, so, so I sat next to her and I remember looking at my socks thinking, do I have white socks on?

[00:20:34] Diamond: Really? Someone had made a comment about them. Mm-hmm. Um, I don't know if it was Zap, but it was someone Oh, that's funny. So yeah, someone made a comment. So, uh, yeah, I was a little sensitive, you know, but, um,

[00:20:54] Lori: so what was, what was, I got over it. So what was your first year like? I mean, was it, uh, Glamorous as you thought it was.

[00:21:02] Lori: Was it as hard as you thought it was? Was it super competitive? What were your thoughts of the very first season you were on?

[00:21:12] Diamond: Um, quite honestly, um, the first season I thought was probably my best season because, um, I felt like, you know, someone really wanted me there. Mm-hmm. Okay. I felt like, um,

[00:21:33] Diamond: it was so easy for me, um, because I wasn't trying to put on any airs. Mm-hmm. Um, and I was just having fun. Yeah. You know, I was always smiling, I remember, or laughing. Um, Or skipping across the floor. Right. You know, to my next event. And I actually recall them coming over the, you know, speaker saying a diamond, can you please stop skipping so much?

[00:22:08] Diamond: Can you act more like ice? They did not. Yes. I swear to God. I'll go back and find it. Oh

[00:22:16] Lori: my God, that's so funny.

[00:22:18] Diamond: I'll, I never forgot that. And I'm like, I'm thinking, but I'm having so much fun because I was so athletic and I never took the events seriously. Now this is my first season. Mm-hmm. But because I was, um, I had a pretty good technique, I think, you know, um, And, and that's probably what got me through winning all the events.

[00:22:46] Diamond: Not all of the events, but several of the events. Oh no, you were,

[00:22:50] Lori: you, you were very athletic and, and what was so deceiving about you was you were that real pretty princess and, and you would've thought that, oh, I can go in and I can, you know, I can kind of kick her ass kind of thing. But then all of a sudden it's like that little pretty princess all of a sudden turned it on and you became the machine that just took 'em all down, which was awesome.

[00:23:13] Lori: You know, cuz they weren't, a lot of them probably weren't even expecting that.

[00:23:17] Diamond: I think in general, in my entire life, people didn't expect that from me at all, thinking she's gonna, you know, speak up for herself. But the difference is, um, well, you know, if, if you get mad, right? Oh yeah. Oh, I mean, I could turn my house upside down.

[00:23:37] Lori: Right? Absolutely. I've seen you get mad and it's not pretty, but who wants,

[00:23:41] Diamond: right, who wants to walk around like that though? Yeah, exactly. I wanna walk around laughing and, you know, hearing music in my head

[00:23:49] Lori: and, but see, that's what, that's what was so great about all the different personalities backstage, I think.

[00:23:55] Lori: You know, there was, there was some that were intense and some of that were a little dramatic. And then there was like, you know, I, I love the fact that you walked around and you were just like happy all the time, you know? And we needed that because there was so many, there was some girls there and some guys that were just kind of like, you know, kind of,

[00:24:17] Diamond: and we

[00:24:19] Lori: needed that. I know, that's very true. Yeah. We needed that. So, Now from the television show, what did you really enjoy more? Did you enjoy the television show more, or did you enjoy, let's say, the tour?

[00:24:34] The Tour or the TV Show?

[00:24:34] Diamond: Oh, I see. Um, well, I think, um, definitely being on the set and recording at home, you know, for the, for the TV show, um, it was also really a lot of fun, you know, during like halftime.

[00:24:52] Diamond: Mm-hmm. Because we got to run around and sign autographs and all those, um, children and even adults too, but mostly the little ones in the audience. Mm-hmm. I loved that. Yeah. That's so cute. Those little, it was like, you felt like, um, wow. Like they were looking at gold, like they really supported you, so you really had to put on a good show for them.

[00:25:16] Diamond: Yeah. You know, definitely couldn't let them down. Um, So I definitely enjoyed that more. Um, the tour. Should I go into it a little?

[00:25:29] Lori: Oh, go for it. Absolutely.

[00:25:31] Diamond: Was definitely more challenging. Yes. Um, in many ways, um, I was sort of a reuse during that tour, not to say that I wasn't with you guys. And I recall partying on the bus, you know, a couple of times and we had even video footage and that was a blast.

[00:25:56] Diamond: Yeah. You know, it was fun. But, and that was on the bus. Um, going out to eat was great. Traveling abroad, you know, it was just really fun. But when the, you know, when the doors closed at the venue, um, I think a lot of the people went out. To club, or maybe they went downstairs in the hotel and partied it up a bit, you know?

[00:26:22] Diamond: Mm-hmm. It's fine. You're young. Do it. But at that time, see I did not. So that's where I say I was a recluse, so I stayed on the bus. Mm-hmm. Mostly by myself. We didn't sleep on the bus though, actually, once in a while, but we went to a hotel room, so I was in my hotel room mm-hmm. By myself, I recall. And you know, I kept, um, a journal of every single year that I was on the Gladiator show, including the tour.

[00:26:58] Diamond: Oh, nice. So I would, I wrote down like everything that went on, you know, um, yeah. From morning till night during the game.

[00:27:09] Lori: So if you went, if you went back through that journal today, What would be the general conception of that entire journal from the gladiator days?

[00:27:21] Diamond: Wow. Um, well, first of all, you know, we were much more loose back then and, uh, and there was never a dull moment.

[00:27:36] Diamond: Never, never a dull moment. And I mean, you know, I just so much wanted to fit in with everyone, but I, I didn't, because I didn't, I, I didn't go out and party. So, you know, for, for that reason, I didn't fit in. Not to say that I'm a saint because, oh honey, you know, far from it. It's just that at that time I was being a reuse because I think I just wanted to write.

[00:28:09] Diamond: Mm-hmm. But all in all, Those days for me were some of the most, uh, forming and important days of my life because of the people I met. Um, spending time other than partying, spending time with all of you. Mm-hmm. Really getting to know you. Mm-hmm. And having fun. We made it through so many ups and downs.

[00:28:43] Diamond: Mm-hmm. And there were so many ups and downs that were, some of them were

[00:28:49] Lori: hideous. How did you feel being, and I'm gonna say it, we were, we were famous back then. We were, at that time, we were famous. How did you, how did you like being famous?

[00:29:02] Diamond: You were famous. I was, I was so famous. We all were. I think the reason.

[00:29:11] Diamond: I liked being famous, really was because, um, I, I like to, I like to give love. I like to shine the light. I like to give people a smile, give people, it's, it's an okay. Mm-hmm. You know, I didn't wanna be famous or at the time, you know, saying, um, look at me, you know, gee, look at me. Um, I, I can get a free meal or whatnot.

[00:29:45] Diamond: That to me was not what famous was being about. Right. I think

[00:29:54] Diamond: just the fact that you could really, you could really make someone's day. I know it sounds corny, right? No, it's

[00:30:01] Lori: so true. But I, by just giving them a smile, you know, of who you are and paying attention to that person.

[00:30:10] Diamond: Yeah. And I think an an of course who doesn't like fringe benefits? You know, like, you know, his free makeup, here's a free t-shirt or a, a, a grab bag or Right.

[00:30:23] Diamond: You know, I wasn't always, you know, excited about people saying, oh, this is, you know, my friend Erica, she's, um, diamond on American Gladiators, you know, but it, we didn't need that, but

[00:30:34] Lori: it, it happened. Yeah. It comes with the territory.

[00:30:36] Diamond: It still does. Yeah. It still, even to this day. And I'm like, you know, I mean, it is a great thing.

[00:30:44] Diamond: It's a great thing. But, um,

[00:30:46] Lori: it's funny because, um, I did see a clip from Gemini saying that, oh, their egos got so big. And, and I'm thinking, you know, when we were just talking about fame right now, I. I can't recall any gladiators, to be quite honest with you, that got so high and mighty on their horse of their fame.

[00:31:10] Lori: I think we are all pretty much down to earth, you know? I mean, maybe, maybe one two, but out of the tame of 10, I can't really say that. Oh, everybody, you know, like Jim and I said, oh, they got, so their egos got so big. I don't know. I don't know. Hmm.

[00:31:30] Diamond: I mean, I don't know who he's referring to. I don't either. Um, because it's funny, Gemini, um, During another interview, I was asked what I thought about him, and I said, you know, he was a cool guy.

[00:31:47] Diamond: He was like the grandpa of the, not to be insulting, but he No, you're right. He was, he was experienced and he's the one that was like the leader of the pack. Like, oh, if you had an issue mm-hmm. You know, you would go to him, you would go to your, to your, your grandfather. You would Your elder To your elder.

[00:32:10] Diamond: Exactly. Yeah. Your elder. And you would say, and I've gone to him a couple of times. Mm-hmm. You know, and I think he, um, definitely beckoned that position.

[00:32:23] Lori: So, you know, he, maybe he was speaking from himself, maybe he felt like his ego got too big, you know, and then he kind of thought, okay, well everybody else's ego has to be getting this, this big.

[00:32:36] Lori: But I don't know. I don't think so.

[00:32:38] Diamond: You know what I think it might be? Hmm. Um, when, when we were doing the show and everyone was competing, um, you know, the males, they just have a natural testosterone anyhow. Right. And they, they got very competitive with each other, and they want it to be the center of attention.

[00:33:03] Diamond: Mm-hmm. Because that is really a male thing when you think about it, right? Yeah. Yeah. Now, not that females can't do that because females can, we're just more

[00:33:12] Lori: catty.

[00:33:13] Diamond: We're, we're more catty and maybe a little less noisy about it. Yeah.

[00:33:20] Lori: We go around the backside. Just,

[00:33:23] Diamond: just, just plan it. Well,

[00:33:26] Lori: exactly.

[00:33:27] Diamond: But I have not, I don't think anyone's ego is so above them.

[00:33:33] Diamond: I've had great down to earth conversations with Nitro, with Jim. You know, Steve, um, definitely red. I mean, and Gemini. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:33:48] Lori: So the tour was such a good time. Now why did you, and when did you actually leave the show? Did you ever get injured? Pardon? Did you ever get injured? Oh

[00:34:05] Diamond's Injuries

[00:34:05] Diamond: God, I did, but this was, um, this was when we were filming for the tv.

[00:34:12] Diamond: Okay. Um, I think this happened at Radcliffe Studios though. Okay. Because we did jump around a little bit mm-hmm. From studio to studio. But, um, it was during my worst event. Oh God. It was

[00:34:28] Lori: Okay. What your, it was, what's your worst event? It

[00:34:31] Diamond: was the joust. Oh. Everybody hated the joust. Oh my gosh. Well this, this girl, her husband was, he may have been in the Marines.

[00:34:46] Diamond: He was in the service, and I had a feeling he told her how to whack me. Mm-hmm. First hit, right. So there we are in the position. I'm looking at her right in the eye. Gladiator. Ready? Yeah. As I always did, her first movement was to take it dead on and hit me with the end of the ugal stick right

[00:35:18] Lori: here. Oh, so did she kind of like hit, she kind of like butted you with the actual

[00:35:23] Diamond: ugal stick?

[00:35:24] Diamond: Not, yep, not like that. She did it right from her, her waist. Oh. She came up and boom. Nope. Straightforward. Boom, boom. Wow. Okay. Straightforward. Okay. So yeah. Okay. It had to slant up. Yeah. To meet my chin. But let me tell you what happened. This was, this was scary. So when she did that, I fell over and I remember it was slow motion.

[00:35:56] Lori: Oh, she

[00:35:57] Diamond: knocked you out? Cause I, I couldn't see anything. Everything was white. And as I was falling over, I still could think and I said to myself, I think I'm gonna die. Oh shit. So, yeah, cuz everything was white. I couldn't see anything. And I landed on the mat. I don't know how long I was there for. All I remember is the referee standing above me saying, are you okay?

[00:36:25] Diamond: Are you okay? She knocked you out. Well, when I stood up, I saw stars just going around and around and around, and that scared me. He said, are you okay? And I said, yes. I didn't tell him Right. How I really felt, but, um, and, and it damaged my neck. Oof, yeah. Badly. Yeah. Yeah, badly. And so, um, yeah, that was quite an injury.

[00:36:59] Diamond: That's, yeah. The neck

[00:37:01] Lori: injuries are the worst. Now, did you con, did you continue to compete and finish out the season?

[00:37:07] Diamond: Well, so this would've been, I think this was the second season. Mm-hmm. Um, and Brian, the director mm-hmm. Said that I, I didn't have to do the joust, but I had to do it once. So that, um, you know, I could at least do it once in a season because it wouldn't be fair.

[00:37:31] Diamond: Right. And I wasn't nervous. I bet. Cause I thought, oh my God, if anyone hits me in the head again like that, you know, in the chin my neck. But it was okay. It was okay.

[00:37:41] Lori: Good, good, good. Yeah. Yeah. Some of the games they were, you know, some of them were not safe. Some of them were a little bit more intense than others.

[00:37:53] Lori: I mean, I don't know what was. Okay. What was your favorite event then?

[00:37:57] Diamond: Oh, you probably already know, but, um, definitely hang. Tough.

[00:38:04] Lori: I know because you rocked at that one. This one Hang tough. You were the queen of hang tough. I love that. Yeah. That was a great event. My, my personal, I love Powerball. You were still great at Powerball.

[00:38:17] Lori: You were great at all the events, but hang tough was your event For sure. There's no doubt. I

[00:38:22] Diamond: didn't like Powerball. I really wasn't very good at it, but thank you. Because ah, that was body slamming. That was rough, right? Yeah, that was rough. So do you

[00:38:33] Lori: remember, do you remember the toughest competitor you ever went up against as far as, uh, contenders?

[00:38:42] Lori: Did you compete against Peggy Oida?

[00:38:45] Diamond: I may have, but I don't, you know, I don't even know what she looks like. I don't recall her image or

[00:38:52] Lori: anything. Okay. So if you don't remember the name, then you probably didn't compete against her. She was five nine, weighing about 180 African-American beautiful girl. But man, she was just, she was, she was bigger than all of us.

[00:39:06] Lori: She just killed us all. So there was some contenders that were just pretty gnarly. They were pretty intense. Do you, was there any that you actually remember that just rocked your, besides the one hitting you in the head that just rocked your bell?

[00:39:21] Diamond: Yeah. it was also my first season, so yeah, it was during Powerball and her name is Trish.

[00:39:29] Diamond: I remember Trish. She was

[00:39:31] Lori: tough. Yeah, so do I. She was tough. So do I Wait, wasn't she like a firefighter?

[00:39:36] Diamond: She was she a firefighter

[00:39:37] Lori: or something? I can't remember.

[00:39:39] Diamond: You know, she could have been, they pretty much had, had, had careers, you know, in the same genre. Mm-hmm. They were pretty tough. Um, she, I don't know why she, it seemed like she was always out to get me for some reason.

[00:39:55] Diamond: Uh, so she slapped me in the face. No way. Yeah. Yeah. She slapped me. And that was the first time that I actually, you know, burst it out. I was so angry, angry. And I was ready to rip her hair out of her head. Wow. You know? So the referee had to come over and calm me down and he made me, I had to sit out, I think for the, probably the rest of the games I was punished.

[00:40:23] Diamond: Wow. I didn't even do it. I was gonna go after her though. I was not very happy that

[00:40:29] Lori: day. I bet. So outta that was tough. Out of all the different personal appearances that we did and we got to travel and meet people, what was probably like one of the standout, coolest places you got to travel

[00:40:45] Diamond: to? Yeah. I can tell you right off the top of my head because I think of it often, and that would've would be Japan.

[00:40:52] Diamond: Ah, yes.

[00:40:53] Lori: Everybody went to Japan. But me, I was the only one that didn't go.

[00:40:58] Diamond: You should have, I know it. It should have been you. We, we went there, I went twice. Oh wow. Okay. And we went for, I think it was company, if I remember correctly. We went and met the owner of the company and it was so nice and they were just so pleasant.

[00:41:24] Diamond: And I have to tell you, that is the best food that I've ever had in my life. Wow. That's cool. The meat, I don't eat meat now these days, but the filet mignon was out of this world. The fruit was like, they had injected it with water. It was, but yet it was crisp. It was beautiful. It, it was so clean. And even the city streets, they were so clean and.

[00:41:58] Diamond: I saw people polishing the breasts, you know, railing on the stairway from morning till night. There was not a crumb outside. I hear a,

[00:42:07] Lori: you would've liked it. I hear a lot of gladiators that came back from Japan having the exact same experience. Everybody said that is the most amazing place they've ever traveled.

[00:42:18] Lori: So now tell me about beautiful maybe who, who was your, the coolest person, whether it be a celebrity, whether it be an athlete or just a person in general. Who would be the the coolest person you actually got to meet while you were doing gladiators as well?

[00:42:38] Coolest Things

[00:42:38] Diamond: I probably, because he came to mind, he popped in my head and I probably wanna go with it because he was very interesting.

[00:42:50] Diamond: And that would be Al Pacino.

[00:42:51] Lori: Oh, that's

[00:42:52] Diamond: awesome.

[00:42:53] Diamond: And the reason is because, um, we actually had dinner together one night with another couple. And I'll never forget some of the things he told me. He told me so much about his life and his plans that we actually closed the restaurant down. They literally had to ask us to leave who were the only two left in there.

[00:43:20] Lori: That is such an exciting story. I love that.

[00:43:24] Diamond: But, but um, yes, I really admired him. Yeah. And he was a complete gentleman.

[00:43:32] Lori: What does your daughter think about having a mom as an American gladiator?

[00:43:39] Diamond: So I have two beautiful daughters. Um, and I have two boys by the way. So I have four children. Um, One of them.

[00:43:50] Diamond: See, there's a quite a big difference. So one of them sort of grew up along with me while I was still doing gladiators. So her and her brother would come onto the set to this day. Um, she actually called me before the interview and she said, mom, you know, make sure you take a little thought before you answer the question.

[00:44:16] Diamond: You might wanna have a beautiful little glow, a glowing light near you. So I have my salt lamp right here. Um, she is the most supportive person in my life. Oh, she's very proud that I was an American Gladi gladiator. And, and we're gonna have a party at her place. Um, you know, when our Netflix comes out for the premier.

[00:44:45] Diamond: Yeah.

[00:44:46] Lori: Yeah. How old is she now? How old is she now?

[00:44:49] Diamond: so without giving away my age, I know she's

[00:44:53] Lori: like, I know what year you were born, but I won't say it. We're the same age.

[00:44:59] Diamond: Yeah. Well, I think I'm a little older than

[00:45:01] Lori: you, but that's just by a couple years.

[00:45:03] Diamond: She's married. Yeah, she's married. Okay.

[00:45:06] Lori: Um, and are you a grand, the one that you, are you a grandma

[00:45:10] Diamond: yet?

[00:45:10] Diamond: Not yet. Not to this day, but, uh, we do have the animals.

[00:45:15] Lori: Oh, then that's, that's, that's, that's, that's what makes it all worth it

[00:45:21] Diamond: right there. Yeah. And a dog. So, um, but she's really proud of me. And then my younger one is, even though it's generations have passed mm-hmm. Um, her and her friends are so excited to meet me.

[00:45:42] Diamond: You know, and they weren't even alive in this one. They just, they

[00:45:46] Lori: love it. But nowadays there's the, you know, the YouTubes and the videos. They can go back and it's like they were there. They can watch all your shows, you know, so of course they're gonna be so proud of that. And that's, that's what the cool thing about is obviously the internet and all the YouTubes and, and oh my God, I don't know what we would've done if we would've all had our cell phones when we were in social media back then, it would've been a little bit more crazy.

[00:46:12] Lori: Let's put it that way.

[00:46:13] Diamond: Probably better because maybe some things shouldn't have been, should not have been seen.

[00:46:17] Lori: Exactly. Erica, how was your transition when you left the show? Going back into, I mean, I wanna do, do I wanna say normal life? I mean, how was your transition?

[00:46:30] Back to normal life

[00:46:30] Diamond: Um, I really liked the entertainment business, so, you know, I, I did have an agent and I wanted to continue working in the business. Um, you did a couple movies. I did. Uh, that was fun. Um, but it, it was also kind of challenging. Mm-hmm. You know, for me being, being in that business at that time. So I sort of hung out for a long time, uh, down in, uh, Santa Monica, Venice area.

[00:47:11] Diamond: Hung out with a lot of the groupies there that had gone to the gym that I met that were really fun people to be with. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, like Arnold, it was so much fun to hang out with. Um, but then, you know, I met someone. Mm-hmm. Um, and I, we ended up, uh, being together and, you know, that's where the other two children came in, so, got it.

[00:47:40] Diamond: Two lies, you know. Mm-hmm. Uh, and then I thought, well, alright, well I'm not going to chase the business, you know, so I did other things. I sort of became a healer. Mm-hmm. Um, and, um, had clients for many, many years. I did some personal training as well. I'm sure everyone, one of us did. You

[00:48:02] Lori: know, I think we all did.

[00:48:04] Diamond: Um, yeah, I will. So the transition was fine.

[00:48:08] Lori: Okay. So you, you didn't have, and I'm gonna say this, for the people that aren't watching the video on YouTube, and you're just listening to this, you've gotta go to the YouTube because Erica, you are, you have aged so beautifully. And whatever you are doing or you have done in your life, honestly, you look gorgeous.

[00:48:27] Lori: And I mean, and I know that's through all of the things that you actually, you create your own lotions and things like that, don't you? Right now?

[00:48:37] Diamond: I do. Um, so tell me about that. I have, I have been for a long, for many years. Um, well, I think that, um, you know, natural, uh, products and ingredients that are around are probably the best for your skin and for internally.

[00:49:00] Diamond: Um, I remember when I, even before I came out to California, when I was very young, I would look at, um, health and beauty magazines and I remember seeing an article about strawberries and how it was talking about how, you know, this model would use strawberries on her skin. So I think it goes way back.

[00:49:23] Diamond: Mm-hmm. But then I started my own skincare line, um, and I sold it at Farmer's Markets and, and you know, at, uh, friends in the neighborhood and then through their friends, et cetera. I never got it online. Uh, it never went huge, but I still have some customers to this day who still order my products. But I think the biggest major that I can say through experience would be worry is Say that again to me.

[00:50:03] Diamond: Worry that W O R R y. Worry. Worrying. Worrying. Okay. I think worry is the biggest. Oh,

[00:50:13] Lori: stress and worry 100%.

[00:50:16] Diamond: Yeah, of course you need your sleep. You know, right now my dog is quite old, so he wakes up in the middle of the night and then I hear him, so I don't get the sleep I should be getting, but, you know, naturally wanna drink your water.

[00:50:29] Diamond: Mm-hmm. But my skincare, um, and I think the reason I got into it is because I went to school, become a certified therapeutic massage therapist, and I did that for many years, although I started getting bored it, so I said, oh, I have an idea because I like the smell of nice things. Mm-hmm. So I started creating my own lotions for the body using essential oils.

[00:51:03] Diamond: And then it was, I. More enduring, you know, I could stand an hour of massage because the, the scent would just kinda lift my spirits. Mm-hmm. You know? Mm-hmm. Um, so then I started creating skin cream, face, face cream, um, with organic oils and essential oils, absolutes. And then I started making perfume.

[00:51:31] Diamond: Perfume. I still make to this day, as a matter of fact, I just put some on before on my wrist before I started because it's so uplifting now.

[00:51:41] Lori: I love it. Do you sell, do you sell these online? I mean, can people actually contact you to get some of these things?

[00:51:49] Diamond: I don't have an online website for my perfumes or skin creams.

[00:51:56] Diamond: Um, people could contact me though. I, I do have an email. Okay. Uh, where they could. You know, request information if they want

[00:52:06] Lori: to. Okay. So we're gonna put the that in the show notes, but tell people right now while we're talking, and it's on our mind that where they can actually find you on, I mean, what is your email that they can actually request?

[00:52:19] Lori: Like skincare, perfume, or something like that? What is the email they can find you at?

[00:52:23] Diamond: Okay, so it, it, it would be Diamond in the Arts with an s uhhuh@yahoo.com.

[00:52:32] Lori: Diamond in the arts@yahoo.com. Perfect. Now let's talk about your art behind you. I see some amazing paintings.

[00:52:39] Lori: Okay, thank you. Tell me about

[00:52:41] 2023-06-22 Diamond-Raw: that.

[00:52:41] Diamond: well really, I know I was quite young when I did my first painting. Um, then I got busy with life and did not paint. But the past few years, um, I started painting and I actually just finished one mm a couple of weeks ago that I commissioned for a, an up and coming singer.

[00:53:05] Diamond: So I'm really happy about that one. Um, that's exciting. But, um, it is. But now this one here, as you see, this is me on Hang Tough. Mm-hmm. And I have, your name is right there. I have all the people's names here surrounding it. Oh, that's awesome. Um, and I, I love painting and, and I tell my art, I have a lot, a lot of artwork that behind me that you can't see.

[00:53:37] Diamond: Mm-hmm. Uh, and some others, you know, throughout the house. Now I know that it's all in oil, oil on canvas or oil on

[00:53:46] Lori: wood. Now I know that you were gonna create a website and you're stressing about getting your website up, but once you get that website up, I know that they can email you and find out what that website is.

[00:53:57] Diamond: Absolutely ly.

[00:53:59] Lori: So you've been painting since you were just a little kid then?

[00:54:02] Diamond: I, I wanna say that I did have the gift when I was young because I remember painting and drawing, you know, uh, back then. But then for many, many years I did not. I just did other things. But, um, my, my grandfather was quite a painter, so I'm sure it comes from him so genetically.

[00:54:25] Diamond: Yeah. Yeah. So I love it though.

[00:54:28] Lori: So are you excited about the documentary coming out?

[00:54:33] Diamond: Uh, yes. Yeah. Yes and no. I know, I heard a hesitation. Yeah. Yes, yes and no. Um, because, um, I'm pretty sure that it, it, it will be nicely edited. I, I, you know, uh, have heard some things regarding the other documentary that came out, you know?

[00:54:59] Diamond: Yeah, of course. Right? Yeah. In espn. Um, and it's, it's, to me, it's, it's disheartening because what I remember from American Gladiators is that even if someone had a big ego, even if someone was competitive against me, all in all, still to this day, we are like a family. I want these folks out there to know that when we text each other, we do it on a group text.

[00:55:30] Diamond: Mm-hmm. We all know what's going on, and it's so nice to see everyone's name there It is, isn't it? And we put our opinion, You know, if, if something bothers one of us, it it'll be spoken out and then everyone can, you know, give a little piece of advice. So when I heard these things about the other show that already came out, I, I, I, I, I will tell you I was disappointed.

[00:55:55] Diamond: Mm-hmm. I'm

[00:55:56] Lori: disappointed we got

[00:55:57] Diamond: separated.

[00:55:58] Diamond: Hopefully we can do something

[00:56:00] Lori: about that. I know I would love to do some type of reunion, so if anybody's out there listening, yeah. It would be the Cool, please. So that would not be the coolest thing in the world to just grab all the gladiators together to actually have a reunion and have like, I don't know, there might be 15, 20 of us if we grab, uh, you know, even some of the alternates or whatever they, you know, were in the show, but.

[00:56:25] Lori: Definitely that solid 10 to 15 gladiators, have some type of reunion, have an autograph signing. I mean, I don't know why someone hasn't done this yet.

[00:56:37] Diamond: Yeah. Because it's, we're going to do it. I think we are going to do

[00:56:42] Lori: it. Do you, do you envision this? Because I know that you have dreams and visions, so I just I do. I know you do. So it's like, if you can help manifest this for us, that would be awesome. I

[00:56:56] Diamond: can, I know. I can, can,

[00:56:59] Lori: I

[00:56:59] Diamond: know I want to, I want to, you know, I think it would really be fun.

[00:57:05] Diamond: But, you know, I'm all about always trying to see who, who can I help, who can we help? There's always someone that needs a little bit of help mm-hmm. In, in so many different ways. Right. Um, So even to incorporate that somehow, you know, with, with our gathering, with our doc, with our mini documentary. Um, did you, that's something that I wanna keep in mind.

[00:57:37] Lori: Did you see the, um, Arnold documentary yet

[00:57:44] Lori: on, uh, Netflix? Yes. If you haven't seen it, you've gotta see this and it, and it's interesting that you said that about, you know, you wanna help and there's some, there was a takeaway that I loved about in his documentary where his father said, always be useful. Always be useful. And it's, it's, I haven't seen it yet.

[00:58:04] Lori: Yeah, you've gotta see it. It's, it's really an amazing documentary, you know. But yes, I mean, as we were gladiators, I mean, we were role models. We were, we were, you know, little kids were looking up to, especially as females, if you think about it, Erica, we were ahead of the time. We were, we were giving females the permission to be strong and athletic and be in the forefront because so many little girls looked up to us.

[00:58:34] Lori: Teenagers looked up to us, some of the adults, you know, I mean, I know you got fan letters. We got fan letters saying Thank you for being the role model that you are, and it gave me the strength to do blah, blah, blah. You know, so that takeaway for me, being an American gladiator is just priceless, you know?

[00:58:55] Lori: So. Mm-hmm. And I think even today, when they see us, We're still,

[00:59:01] Diamond: we're, we're a little older,

[00:59:04] Lori: but that's ok. But that's okay. And it's like mm-hmm. Aging gracefully, right?

[00:59:11] Diamond: Yeah. We're still willing to give, though, give of our ourselves. And do you remember when we used to go to, um, you know, the organizations, um, lists and lists from the, from the publisher, publisher already to, you know, go to the Gulf organization, go to the hospital, visit the children with cancer mm-hmm.

[00:59:32] Diamond: Et cetera, you know, down policy and all sorts of illnesses. And we always went, we were always there. Mm-hmm. Giving over time. Mm-hmm. So, um, you know, to say the least, really, um, it, it's good to, to reach out to people. So that they can still have someone even just to talk to, send a letter. Mm-hmm. Or, you know, give a, a little hey on Instagram or something,

[01:00:03] Lori: you know?

[01:00:03] Lori: Yeah, I was gonna say, yeah. Nowadays it's an email instead of a letter.

[01:00:07] Diamond: Oh, yeah. Well, no, still actually, I, I just received several letters, um, oh, I would say about three months ago. Mm-hmm. Quite a stack. And so many of them came from China. Oh, that's interesting. And I thought that was really interesting.

[01:00:27] Diamond: Mm-hmm. Yeah. So, no, they were all handwritten. Wow. Still, still. Now,

[01:00:33] Lori: do you have social media? Do you have social media? You have Instagram? I, I do. Where can people find you? Where can people find you on Instagram? Um,

[01:00:44] Diamond: I believe, here we go. It's, I believe it's Miss Un aka Diamond. Okay, got it. So M S M S A E N D E R S C H A K A Diamond.

[01:01:00] Lori: That's awesome. I love that. So now is there anything else that you wanna let people know that you're doing now? I mean, because that was one of the things a lot of people didn't know about, different gladiators. I love the fact that you're doing your skincare line, your painting, you know, you're still very involved in, you know, helping people, you know, and giving back.

[01:01:27] Lori: I, I

[01:01:27] Diamond: really am, I really am. I actually currently work with, um, a former, uh, pilot who, um, Has a de debilitating, uh, disease, unfortunately, where he has a very difficult time walking or even speaking. Um, so, um, you know, I started working with him doing certain exercises and rather than scraping his feet, sliding to walk, he said that he was able to pick his feet up even a little bit.

[01:02:02] Diamond: So yes, that's one person, but his eyes were tearing because he was so happy. Mm. Because he's, he's, he's getting results. So I think, um, you know, working out and he went there listening, thinking, you know, oh, my life is gloomy. Sure, we all get gloomy now and then, but the bottom line is working out some form of exercise not only can help your physical body.

[01:02:30] Diamond: But it does release and it's a scientific fact. It releases endorphins mm-hmm. In your brain. Mm-hmm. And it helps to clean your blood and it literally makes you happier. So no matter how difficult it might be for someone to get up and just do something, even if it's five minutes. Mm-hmm. Even if it's one pushup, for heaven's sakes, just get outside and just keep going a little more.

[01:03:00] Diamond: Every, every day more and little more, you're gonna start feeling a lot better.

[01:03:04] Lori: Exercise is unbelievably the number one key, I would say, when people are talking about anti-aging or they're talking about, mm-hmm. Just feeling good in general. The serotonin levels exercise, and like you said, a lot of people are like, well, maybe it's a little too late for me.

[01:03:23] Lori: Maybe I'm a little too old. Uhuh, you're never ever too old to take a walk outside. And it's

[01:03:29] Diamond: never too late. It's never too late, and you're never too fat, ever. Let's be real. It's never too late. And, and nope, it's never too late to learn, ever. And I remember when I was a bodybuilder, um, and I was working out all the time.

[01:03:50] Diamond: One thing that it also did for me, now, this is when you really wanna get into bodybuilding or working out, rather, it makes you more aware Mm. Definitely. Of what's going on in your environment. You are just more aware, you're more alert. And it also really made me become a better judge of character. Hmm.

[01:04:14] Diamond: Because dur Yeah, because during that time in my life, I was so in tune, right? Mm-hmm. With myself and with my body and with my environment. That I go to lunch with someone sitting across the table from me, and I could tell just by looking at that person's body language and body in general, honestly, what kind of person this is, because it just really elevates your intuition in that way.

[01:04:49] Lori: Right? That's, yeah, it really did that with me. Mm-hmm. Working out and exercise is literally the number one key, and I know that you get this, I get this. It's like, what have you done to stay in the shape that you're in and look the way you look? I've never stopped working out. I've never stopped working out.

[01:05:09] Lori: I've never stopped eating clean. I mean, I have my days. Come on. We all do. You know, I love my sugar. Sure, I will love my sugar and I wish I didn't love my sugar, but unfortunately I do. But I've learned, I, I learned to manage it. I learned to allow it once in a while, but not every day. Mm-hmm. So absolutely the key, you know, eating good exercise, staying, just being happy, you know?

[01:05:35] Diamond: Well, you're an animal. You are an animal. I mean, you look good when I see your videos, I think, God, she really looks good. Your arms look great. You, you always look good. Your skin looks great. Your, your face looks good. Thank you. I, however, have, it's true, but I have, however, stopped working out in the gym.

[01:05:54] Diamond: Mm-hmm. But I, I love to walk. To me, there's nothing better than walking outside. I do little exercises with my big over-inflated ball at home.

[01:06:08] Lori: I know the big, the big ball, the

[01:06:11] Diamond: big, big one. There's so much you can do with that. And also, um, I have, uh, a set of dumbbells, 25 pounds. That I can do a lot with.

[01:06:21] Lori: Oh, you could do an entire workout with just those.

[01:06:24] Diamond: Yeah. So I just have a little routine and that's enough to maintain me. That's, that's really all I need right now. Exactly. Someday I may get back in the gym, but you know, I'm not going back on what I said earlier. Clear for people to just start working out. Mm-hmm. Cause do something, do something. Walking is one of the best exercises for you.

[01:06:46] Diamond: Right. So, you know, you just get out there and walk and enjoy nature. Enjoy what you're seeing. Don't, don't drag, you know, the days issues, the days problems with you. You have to be free of all that. You've gotta give your walk the best you have. That's a great message.

[01:07:05] Lori: Erica, thank you so much for taking the time out today.

[01:07:10] Lori: And coming on the podcast. I absolutely love seeing you and catching up with you. Thank you again so much for coming on the podcast. Thank you for listening, everyone. And if you are not on the YouTube channel of Chilling with Ice, go to the YouTube channel, chilling with Ice, and you could see the beautiful Erica Diamond from the American Gladiators along with the other gladiators.

[01:07:31] Lori: And don't miss our documentary coming up on June 28th. And Erica, thank you so much and I'll see you later. Love you.

[01:07:40] Outro YT: Thank you so much for listening to Chilling with Ice, and don't forget to hit that like button. Subscribe and share wherever you listen to your podcast. Remember to follow us on Patreon and YouTube at Chilling With Ice and on Instagram and TikTok. You can follow me@lori.ice dot Patrick. I look forward to chilling with you next time here on Chilling with

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