Gladiators’ first hijabi contender Aneila Afsar aims to inspire

When Aneila Afsar first appeared on Gladiators, she made history.

The popular BBC One show which pits gladiators against contenders in a series of physical challenges was rebooted last year and Aneila has made it to Saturday’s semi-finals.

She became the first person ever to compete on the show wearing a hijab and says she gains strength from wearing it.

“I love that I have the opportunity to go on this iconic show and inspire young Muslim girls, women from my community, and show them that there’s nothing we can’t do,” the 26-year-old tells BBC Newsbeat.

Many Muslim girls and women wear the hijab, an Islamic head covering, as a symbol of modesty.

Aneila hasn’t always worn one, only choosing to cover her hair three years ago, and part of that was because she didn’t see other hijabis within sports.

The mum-of-two from Lancashire is a former taekwondo champion, winning a Commonwealth Championship in the youth category.

Back then, she “didn’t have the courage to embrace the scarf”.

“Part of that was because of not having female Muslim role models in the sport or sports in general.

“It was hard adapting to wearing a headscarf while being in the fitness industry.

“Going from not covering to then covering everything which includes your hair, you can feel as if people are staring, you don’t feel confident,” she says.

But as she got older, Aneila found the confidence to be that role model herself and now she sees the hijab differently.

“It’s empowering, it’s my superpower. I love it.”

The hijab can sometimes be a controversial topic in sport and at last year’s Paris Olympics, French athletes were banned from wearing one even though the International Olympic Committee allowed them to.

In 2023, Moroccan footballer Nouhaila Benzina made history as the first player to wear a hijab at the Women’s World Cup. They had been banned until 2014 by the game’s governing body Fifa.

Since first appearing on the show, Aneila says not everyone has been so positive about her hijab though.

She’s posted about receiving Islamophobic and racist abuse on social media, but says overall it’s been heavily outweighed by the encouraging reaction.

That’s important to Aneila who says she wants to show “you can wear a hijab, be involved in fitness and still pursue your dreams”.

“I’m getting messages from girls as young as 12 telling me that I’m the reason they’re taking gymnastics again and that they feel that they can now be involved in sport.”

And it’s not just young girls who’ve been inspired by Aneila.

“Since being on Gladiators, I’ve received messages from women in their 40s who say if there was a visible Muslim woman wearing a headscarf when they were younger, their whole journey with fitness would have been different,” she says.

And she hopes her journey on Gladiators will encourage her own children to feel comfortable being themselves too.

“My daughter was getting older and I wanted to be a visible Muslim role model for her,” she says.

“I have used my children to be my inspiration. It’s because of them I wanted to wear a headscarf.”

Aneila says the reaction she’s had since first appearing on Gladiators helped her realise “we can push the barriers out, break any stereotypes”.

“The hijab is not a limitation.”

Gladiators will air on BBC One at 17:50 on Saturday 5 April.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen back here.