Rhinos Women's star reaches Gladiators semi final

Leeds Rhinos Womens player and serving Armed Forces Doctor, Ella Donnelly, has reached the semi finals of the BBC1 hit Saturday night show Gladiators. 

Ella's Rhinos team mates were there to support for her first heat when she set a record for the Eliminator. She followed that up in the Quarter Finals with another record breaking performance with her victory over Nitro, a former national sprinting champion, in Unleash. 

Ella is now through to the semi finals. 

An impressive first season at the club saw Donnelly play in all 21 matches and feature in her first major final in 2024. Donnelly quickly established in the squad, making 15 substitute appearances over the course of the year. She also added two tries to cap off a great debut season.

2025 saw the forward take on a starting role as she played 13 of 16 appearances that season at prop and loose forward. Donnelly scored five tries across the campaign, touching down twice in a 110-0 win over Warrington as well as in wins over Barrow, Huddersfield and Leigh in the Challenge Cup.

Starting in Rugby Union, Donnelly started at the age of 13, playing for Oakmedians, before she picked up Rugby League at 19. She was recently selected for the England training squad ahead of this year's World Cup in Australia.

This week Ella joined team mate Keara Bennett on the Leeds Rhinos podcast to talk about her time on Gladiators and look ahead to the Betfred Women's Challenge Cup and Super League campaigns.