Type 1 diabetic actress, Jade Byrne, is to host Rochdale’s undefeated boxer, Muhammad Ali, in this weeks’ YouTube episode of Prick Me Up.
A weekly, online interview show Jade created during Lockdown has continued to go from strength-to-strength and, with interesting, and differing interviews every week, and with fellow diabetics, she continues to push the boundaries.
She even turns her hand at a little of what her interviewee does in life, having already partaken in dance routines, keepy-ups, setting up a tik-tok account. Now, with Ali, the north-east actress who has appeared in that of Inspector George Gently, Casualty, and has her own, one-woman stage show, Pricks, intends to try her hand at a little boxing.
But is she holding back a secret?
“I’m looking forward to it,” began Jade
“I once did a tiny bit of boxing with Michael Dicks (DBMA Darlington) for a photoshoot, but this will be a proper little session, and I can’t wait.”
Ali, who is nicknamed ‘The Diabetic Kid’ is an undefeated fighter with a 6-0 record. Having already undergone one battle in order to get his professional fight licence, the 27-year-old continues to do battle in the ring, marking his debut with a PTS4 success over journeyman, Andrej Cepur, in September 2018.
It took him three years to gain his licence from the BBBofC (British Boxing Board of Control) having been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at a young age, but continues to inspire others on a daily basis.
His motto, which he uses to both inspire and motivate others says –
“Diabetes is a condition, not an illness; I’m just like any other ordinary person. Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass by but learning to weather the storm. One day, I’d love to say I lived by diabetes.”
With both the diabetes connection, and the fact both Jade and Muhammad use that to inspire and motivate others makes for an interesting one-on-one session between the two.
“I met Jade at TADTalk in 2018,” explained Ali,
”It’s pretty much straight forward as we’ve attended many diabetic events together.
“With me, they (non-boxing fans as well as fans of the sweet science) will see a chilled out, enthusiastic individual, someone who’s willing to give people advice and excitement at the same time!”
“I think it’s totally admirable and just fantastic that he’s managed to make a change in the British Boxing world,” continued Jade
“I believe this will ultimately benefit loads of other people with Type 1 Diabetes and other hidden illnesses.
“I know that people watching can expect both entertainment, as well as an insight into what it’s like to manage Type 1 Diabetes and sport.
“They can probably expect me to throw a few duff punches too,” to which Ali responded, laughing, that “I’ll teach Jade how to put someone to sleep!”
Not too duff though Jade, there’s reputations to uphold.
Actress Jade Byrne interviews undefeated boxer Muhammad Ali, on Wednesday 17 June at 8pm, live on her YouTube channel (search Pricks Official) https://m.youtube.com/c/PricksOfficial
You can follow Jade on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PricksOfficial/ and Twitter https://twitter.com/PricksOfficial or visit her website at https://www.pricksofficial.co.uk/; whilst Muhammad Ali can be found on Twitter https://twitter.com/MuhammadAliBox and his website https://www.muhammadaliboxing.com/