FORMER Carlton great Anthony Koutoufides swapped his Carlton jumper for a gladiators uniform. Now the celebrity gladiator has swapped his name ‘Kouta the Greek God’ for ‘Octaviar the Roman Centurion’. Channel 7 confirmed that Koutoufides would now be ‘Octaviar’ in the new version of TV’s variety series Gladiators. The six-figure sponsorship deal by the former MFS and newly named Octaviar was lauded by Octaviar director Chris Scott. “MFS needs a fighter and Koutoufides will fit the bill” he said. This is the first sponsorship initiative by MFS since it lost the Australian Open and other sporting events. Koutoufides is among a handful of celebrities including former golden girl of Australian Athletics Tatiana Grigorieva taking part in the series that pits muscle-bound gladiators against fit and fearless contestants. Koutoufides has shown himself to be a favourite of TV viewers, winning the fifth series of Dancing with the Stars. He is also something of a showman, performing a small role in The Production Company's staging of 42nd Street last October. Koutoufides announced his retirement from football in August 2007. He played 278 games with Carlton in a career that saw him twice win the Blues' best-and-fairest and captain the club from 2004-2006. Gladiators is filmed at The Dome at the Sydney showgrounds and hosted by Great Outdoors reporter Tom Williams and former McLeod's Daughters star Zoe Naylor. Asked to comment MFS CEO Craig White said that Koutoufides was well respected in the community and with staff and board changes the sponsorship was affordable. “The deal is not that expensive and will be more than covered by the savings from (Chairman Andrew) Peacock’s resigination.” Mr Peacock was unavailable for comment.
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