Evan Dollard looks great in spandex. He rubs elbows with the likes of Hulk Hogan. And he’s now known as “the Evanator” on “American Gladiators.”
Still, the 25-year-old Jefferson Park resident, one of the finalists on NBC’s hit reality show, doesn’t get recognized much in Chicago.
“Not at all,” he told RedEye this week, laughing. “I was shamelessly plugging myself at this store. The two girls helping me didn’t recognize me at all. I was dropping hints like ‘Have you seen “American Gladiators?” ‘
“I eventually had to tell them, ‘I’m an “American Gladiators” finalist.’ And — nothing.”
That may change when the final episode of “Gladiators” airs at 6 p.m. Sunday.
Not that Dollard is full of himself. He’s just ready to let everyone know how he did in the competition. He has lived with the results since the season was filmed over 2Q weeks in November in Culver City, Calif.
“It’s been hard not to be able to share the news with people,” said Dollard, who works as a retail manager at a Hollister clothing store in Chicago. “You want to talk about all these amazing experiences and you can’t.”
The updated version of the cult favorite from the 1990s pits regular people against one another and several hulking gladiators in 10 grueling athletic events. The winner gets $100,000 and a Toyota Sequoia.
The show has been a hit for NBC, earning between 8 million and 12 million viewers each week.
Dollard can’t say if he’s the winner, but he did tell RedEye about his road to the finals, where he faced Alex Rai — and the massive male gladiators Wolf, Titan and Toa, among others.
“I love going up against Wolf because he’s such a well-rounded athlete,” said Dollard, who grew up in Fox River Grove and went to Cary-Grove High School. “And he’s a great performer. He’s so sinister and he loves his character. … Like when I went up against him on the Wall. He would be growling and barking in my ear.”
Despite Wolf’s size — 6 foot 4 and 225 pounds — the 5-foot-10, 160-pound Dollard bested him during the semifinals. Dollard outsmarted Wolf in the Hang Tough competition and made it to the top of the Wall almost before Wolf even started.
The performance had the crowd in the arena on their feet and even pumped up host Hogan. “Evan mania is running wild in this place, brother,” Hogan told Dollard. “You rule.”
When Dollard set a record in the Eliminator obstacle course, earning him his Evanator nickname, Hogan called him “160 pounds of thunder and fury, brother.”
Dollard said meeting Hogan was one of the best parts of the experience.
“He’s an all-star; an American icon. It was such a privilege to stand next to him and have him interview me,” Dollard said.
The Hulkster’s reactions are completely genuine, Dollard said.
“To have him get so excited as he was about my success on the show … was awesome,” he said. “He’s a great guy and his energy was just so cool to be around.”
And for those of you who think the “Gladiators” competition is akin to the fake fighting you see on WWE wrestling, think again. This season, two amateurs were badly injured. One competitor tore his ACL and broke two bones in his leg.
“Of course it’s real,” Dollard said. “There’s nothing set up about it. This isn’t the WWE. These are real, average athletes taking on these massive gladiators, and there’s a chance for injury.”
So why do it?
” ‘Gladiators’ was a show I watched growing up and I loved it. It was awesome,” Dollard said. “It was really just a dream of mine. When I found out they were bringing it back, I had to jump on board and go for it.”
Dollard also had a more personal reason for waiting six hours outside the Windy City Fieldhouse for his initial audition: He wanted to honor his mother, who passed away five years ago after battling brain cancer, with his performance on “American Gladiators.”
“To have a stage like this to be able to compete in her memory was just a real privilege,” he said. “I loved it.”
Dollard hopes to use his 15 minutes of “Gladiators” fame to tell his mom’s story in other ways. He’s writing a play loosely based on his family’s experience and hopes to eventually stage it in Chicago. He also is hooked up with a sports modeling agency and will be leaving for L.A. in a few weeks to see what other opportunities are out there for his future.
“I love storytelling. I love performance,” he said. “If I’m able to use ‘Gladiators’ as a platform … where I can be telling people my story and be relating to people and hopefully making an impact, that’s what I would like to do.”
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What to expect Sunday
The “American Gladiators” contestants must perform in five randomly chosen events and the Eliminator for each round. Here are Evan Dollard’s events for the finals.
Wall
What is it? Contestants climb a 40-foot-high wall while being chased by a gladiator, who is 7 seconds behind them.
How’d Dollard do? The rock-climbing enthusiast scaled the Wall in 20 seconds during the semifinals.
His take: “It was awesome. I knew it was a race against myself. To get up that wall as fast as I did was just incredible.”
Assault
What is it? Contestants must avoid getting hit by tennis balls being shot at them by navigating a course filled with counter-strike weaponry such as air cannons and cross bows.
How’d Dollard do? In his first round, Dollard hit his target and scored 10 points to win.
His take: “It’s like a giant Nerf war. It’s a good time.”
Hang Tough
What is it? Contenders swing ring to ring 20 feet above water while trying to avoid the pursuing gladiator.
How’d Dollard do? He escaped the clutches of Wolf and made it safely to the other side.
His take: “Hands down, the coolest event.”
Joust
What is it? Gladiator and contestant stand on platforms and try to knock each other off with Pugel sticks. They plunge 15 feet into the water below.
How’d Dollard do? In the semifinals, Titan knocked him off in 2 seconds.
His take: “It was flat-out embarrassing.”
Pyramid
What is it? Contestants try to scale a giant pyramid with two gladiators in the way.
How’d Dollard do? In two rounds, he didn’t make it to the top.
His take: “It’s exhausting. There was a lot of fear in that event. If there’s one I could do over again, it would be the Pyramid.”
The Eliminator
What is it? In this obstacle course, contenders ascend and dive off of a 10-foot platform; swim under a flaming surface; climb a cargo net; pedal a hand-crank across another span; run across a balance beam; sprint up the Pyramid; hang from a zip line across a span; scale a reverse escalator; and crash through a padded wall.
How’d Dollard do? In the early round, he set a record on the course of 1 minute, 29 seconds. In his semifinal, he beat that record, finishing in 1 minute, 23 seconds.
His take: “To feel at 8 or 9 years old that that was something I’d be good at and then years later, at 25 years old, to … do as well as I did was just awesome. It was such a thrill.”
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Chicago connections
Several reality stars are representingthe Chicago area on current and upcoming competition shows. Here are some of them.
Rock of Love
10 p.m. Sundays, VH1
– Megan Hauserman attended UIC
The Biggest Loser: Couples
7 p.m. Tuesdays, NBC
– Dan Evans from Frankfort (His mother, Jackie, was eliminated)
– Bernie Salazar (right) from Chicago
The Gauntlet III
9 p.m. Wednesdays, MTV
– Brad Fiorenza from Lockport
Make Me A Supermodel
9 p.m. Thursdays, Bravo
– Ronnie Kroell (left) from Chicago
Pros vs. Joes
10 p.m. Thursdays, Spike TV
– John Grkovic from Chicago
Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious
Begins at 8 p.m. Monday, CW
– Cassandra from Aurora
– Carrie from Fairfield
Step It Up & Dance
Begins at 9 p.m. April 3, Bravo
– Nicole lives in Chicago
– Tovah (right) from Chicago
Top Chef: Chicago
Begins at 9 p.m. March 12, Bravo
– Valerie Bolon (below) from Chicago
– Stephanie Izard lives in Chicago
– Dale Talde from Chicago (lives in New York)
Watch interviews with the “Top Chef” contestants at redeyechicago.com/reality.
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cwwagner@tribune.com
