{"id":293335,"date":"2025-12-01T16:49:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T16:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/293335\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T16:49:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T16:49:13","slug":"gladiators-star-fury-reveals-her-hero-father-has-died-suddenly-aged-56-after-a-suspected-heart-attack-while-mountain-climbing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/293335\/","title":{"rendered":"Gladiators star Fury reveals her ‘hero’ father has died suddenly aged 56 after a suspected heart attack while mountain climbing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gladiators<\/a> star Fury’s father has tragically died after collapsing while climbing one of Yorkshire’s three peaks on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Mixed martial arts expert Phil Ounsley, 56, is suspected to have suffered heart attack at Pen-y-Ghent, a mountain the TV star, real name Jodie Ounsley, had hiked ‘countless times throughout his life’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Sun reports paramedics battled to save Phil while airlifting him from the 2,277ft peak, yet the rescue mission came too late.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jodie took to Instagram to share the news: ‘Heartbroken. Yesterday, my dad suddenly passed away while doing one of his favourite things\u2014walking Pen-y-Ghent…<\/p>\n

‘He had hiked that peak countless times throughout his life, but none of us knew he wouldn’t walk back down that day. I don’t have the words…<\/p>\n

\"Gladiators <\/p>\n

Gladiators star Fury’s father has tragically died after collapsing while climbing one of Yorkshire’s three peaks on Sunday<\/p>\n

\"Jodie <\/p>\n

\u00a0Jodie took to Instagram to share the news: ‘Heartbroken. Yesterday, my dad suddenly passed away while doing one of his favourite things\u2014walking Pen-y-Ghent’<\/p>\n

\"She <\/p>\n

She shared a series of sweet images of her father throughout her life\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘All I can say is that he was, and always will be, my absolute hero. He encouraged me to dream big and loved me wholeheartedly, and for that I will be forever grateful. Until we meet again, Dad.’<\/p>\n

Alongside her heartfelt message, Jodie shared a number of images from her childhood through to adulthood alongside her beloved father.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The avid sportsman was seen throwing himself into a host of sporting actitivies with his famous daughter in her sweet carousel of images.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

A source told The Sun: ‘Phil was perfectly fit and healthy. His death has come as such a shock to all who knew him.<\/p>\n

‘He was such a genuinely great guy and did a lot for charity. And he was always exercising and pushing himself to help others.<\/p>\n

‘Phil is the last person you would expect something like this to happen to due to the lifestyle he lived.<\/p>\n

‘It is such a surprise for his wife Jo, daughter Jodie and son Jack and his whole family are all obviously devastated.’<\/p>\n

Jodie’s post was met with support from friends and followers, including Olympian Bianca Williams, who wrote: ‘So sorry Jodie. Sending you so much love’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her Gladiator co-stars also reached out, with Sabre, real name\u00a0Sheli McCoy, writing: ‘Lost for words my girl, he was Turbo Dad and loved by us all. Sending you strength, love and resilience \u2764\ufe0f I\u2019m so sorry xxxx’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jamie Christian, AKA The Giant, added: ‘Lost for words Jodie. Sending all my love’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Mixed <\/p>\n

Mixed martial arts expert Phil Ounsley, 56, is suspected to have suffered heart attack at Pen-y-Ghent, a mountain the TV star, real name Jodie Ounsley, had hiked ‘countless times throughout his life’\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The avid sportsman was seen throwing himself into a host of sporting actitivies with his famous daughter in her sweet carousel of images<\/p>\n

\"Jodie's <\/p>\n

Jodie’s father gazed adoringly upon the TV star in a sweet childhood picture\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Friends <\/p>\n

Friends sent wellwishes, including Olympian Bianca Williams and her Gladiator co-stars\u00a0Jamie Christian, AKA The Giant and\u00a0Sabre, real name Sheli McCoy<\/p>\n

The heartbreaking news comes after\u00a0Jodie became the third celebrity to sign up to Strictly<\/a> Come Dancing’s Christmas<\/a> special.<\/p>\n

The BBC<\/a> athlete will be one of six stars to take to the dance floor to battle it out for the famous glitterball trophy on the hit competition on Christmas Day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Profoundly deaf from infancy, Jodie received a cochlear implant as a child, <\/a>becoming one of the youngest people in the UK to undergo the procedure.<\/p>\n

Jodie, who is a former rugby union player and jiu jitsu champion, gushed she ‘can’t wait to get stuck in’ to learning her routine.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said: ‘I\u2019m absolutely buzzing to be doing the Strictly Christmas Special. Being the first female rugby player means a lot to me too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I honestly can\u2019t wait to get stuck in, I\u2019m used to smashing into people so this is definitely going to be a challenge!’\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"In <\/p>\n

In a heartbreaking showcase of their bond, she posted an image showing Phil on the Gladiators set wearing a ‘Father Of Fury’ tee and holding a banner reading Feel The Fury\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Jodie <\/p>\n

Jodie sweetly embraced her dad following a run in one of the shots\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"She <\/p>\n

She shared a snap of her father in his police uniform posing beneath a rainbow\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gladiators star Fury’s father has tragically died after collapsing while climbing one of Yorkshire’s three peaks on Sunday.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293336,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[97,96,59,118713,103,478,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-293335","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-gb","11":"tag-gladiators","12":"tag-instagram","13":"tag-tvshowbiz","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}