HOLLYWOOD, CA — When the master minds behind the resurrected American Gladiators series hired Alex Castro – who will strut and fret his hour on the battle mats as “Militia,” they knew that he was black, beautiful, and buff. What they apparently didn’t realize was that, in addition to being an ex-Marine willing to compete against amateur athletes, he was a Colt Studios Web model with a gay porn fan base.Although some have wondered if Militia’s past – which apparently includes nakedly stroking and strutting under the name of Elian Cortez – would keep him from participating in more socially redeeming athletic activities like Power Ball, The Wall, and The Eliminator, representatives from NBC say that the season’s nine episodes have been not only been shot with Militia, but will remain as they were shot.

Along with another 11 Gladiators, including a former Air Force Academy cheerleader, the reckless driving scandal-ridden son of host Hulk Hogan, and an assortment of other muscle-bound men and women with descriptive nicknames destined to put gladiatorial hopefuls through their paces.

Although Castro’s body appears in the 2003 “Butt Beautiful” calendar, as well as an assortment of sexy products including a deck of nude playing cards, an insider insisted to the New York Post that nobody was aware of his saucier work, including his current video appearance on MalePerfection.net.

“We were aware that the guy had a good physique and did some modeling and stuff like that,” the Post was told, but “We were certainly unaware to the extent that he apparently exposed his body.”

That ignorance is likely removed now, given that images from Castro’s previous line of work have popped up on the internet since Colt Studios accidentally outed him with congratulations on his new gig from the company’s website.

Those hoping to see Castro in his radiant, athletic glory can catch the newly redesigned program on Monday evenings at 8:00pm PT. In addition to Militia, the cult revitalized cult classic will feature Crush, Hellga, Venom, Stealth, Fury, Titan, and Justice – as well as contestants hoping to break a sweat for the $100,000 prize – and hosts Hulk Hogan and female boxer Laila Ali.