Jane Omorogbe

Jaine Grace Omorogbe (born 20 September, 1971 in Newcastle upon Tyne) is an English model and actress, perhaps best known as "Rio" on ITVs "Gladiators", who is now a TV presenter and motorcycling journalist.

Born in Newcastle, her family moved to Hastings, East Sussex when she was five. After leaving school, Omorogbe was an ambulance driver and has a certificate in advanced first aid. She modelled bridal gowns for Geddes-Muir Designs, and in 1995 Omorogbe entered the "Miss Wessex" beauty contest. She won the title of Miss Wessex and was entered into the Miss United Kingdom final, although she didn't win the title. In 1996 she was in the top 6 of the "Babe of '96".

Omorogbe then appeared topless on The Sun's Page Three, where she was spotted by "Gladiators" referee John Anderson, and was asked to audition. She was not considered fit/strong enough, so she quit her ambulance job and left Hastings to train with a Taekwando expert, in order to pass the rigorous fitness test required by LWT. After five months of training, Omorogbe passed the tests to become Gladiator Rio.

After taking part in six series of "Gladiators" from 1996 until 2000, she turned her love of motorcycles into a career. She presented numerous shows in quick succession to gain experience, including "Car Crazy Rio", "Top Bikes", "Two Wheels", "Revved Up", "Teen Trials", Top Gear GTi, "Pit Stop Bikes", "Pulling Power" and "Frans Angels".

Like Suzi Perry and Fran Robinson before her, she was the pit-side reporter for Live Speedway on Sky Sports. She is presently the Grid and Pitside Reporter for ITV’s British Touring Car Championship coverage, having previous covered British Superbike Championship for them.

She has also presented "House Race" for ITV with Mike Brewer, as well as an auctioneer on Bid tv.

Omorogbe is also the main motorcycle reporter for both The Sun and The Times newspapers.

External links

* [http://www.janeomorogbe.co.uk/ Her personal website]
*imdb|id=0648469|name=Jane Omorogbe
* [http://www.gladiatorszone.co.uk/gladiators/rio/ Profile and Bio at GladiatorsZone.co.uk]
* [http://www.tonyclayman.com/jane.htm Bio at her agents website]