I FIRST got interested in wresting when I was nine. I was flicking through the channels on the television and I saw some guy choke-slamming another guy and straight away, I thought, "what is this, it looks fantastic?!’ I became hooked and I watched wrestling constantly after that. But when I became a teenager, I fell away from it; it wasn’t really the done thing for a teenage girl to be a fan of a sport like wrestling.

When I was 17, though, my nephew began watching wrestling and it reminded me how much I loved it. My friend told me about a wrestling club close to when I live in Ayrshire and I decided to go along to see what it was like. It was a pretty crazy experience trying out wrestling for the first time – I woke up the next day feeling like I’d been hit by a bus because I was so sore but I remember thinking that it was the best thing I’d ever done and that I just had to go back.

When I began doing wrestling shows, it was in town halls and I was lucky if there was even 60 people watching. I never thought I’d get any further than that so to think what’s happened in the last few years is utterly unbelievable. A few weeks ago, I was part of the Insane Championship Wrestling Fear and Loathing show at the Hydro in Glasgow and it was a completely surreal experience. There were 6000 fans there and the atmosphere was absolutely amazing.

If someone had suggested to me a few years ago that I’d be part of a show like that, I’d have thought they were crazy.

The great thing is that wrestling is beginning to climb back into the mainstream again. In the 1970s and 80s, ITV had a television show called World of Sport Wrestling which was huge and it’s coming back this month for a one-off special. I’ve been invited to be one of the wrestlers on it which is a massive honour.

There’s only ever been one female wrestler on the show before and so this year will be the first-ever all-female match so we’re genuinely making history, which is such an exciting prospect. The great thing about the show is that it’s not just going to be wrestling fans who will see it, it will be going into every household in Britain and so hopefully it will be something that families watch together.

Being a female wrestler, I’m in the minority in my sport but I really don’t notice gender at all and because I don’t see it, I feel like no differences exist. These days, there are so many opportunities for girls and me being a wrestler proves that girls can do any sport they like, even if it’s traditionally a male-dominated sport.

I sometimes get funny reactions from people in my normal life when I tell them what I do and even within wrestling, people are sometimes surprised at how I act inside the ring. I’m quite sweet and nice to talk to outside of the ring and then when I get in it, I’m really nasty and aggressive so I think that can take people aback.

But for me, the ring is a place where you can let everything go. If you’re angry about work or anything else in your life, you can get into the ring and get it all out and you feel so much better.

Getting involved in wrestling is the best – and hardest – thing I’ve ever done. When I started the sport, I had no confidence – I’d barely even say boo to a fly. I was really socially awkward, too, but I’ve totally changed now: wrestling has taught me to be much more confident, more empowered and it’s challenged me hugely. It’s completely changed my life.