Spoiler warning: this covers Alvise Rigo’s run on Physical 100: Italy, episodes 1–6.
Main image: Alvise Rigo, via Instagram (@alvise_rigo).
Alvise Rigo walked into Physical 100: Italy known as a former rugby player turned TV face. He walked out as the show’s comeback hero. When his team was knocked out in the Forgotten Temple, he held two pillars upright as they filled with water, outlasted three rivals, and brought the whole team back into the competition, including Olympic champion Federica Pellegrini. Then, two episodes later, it was all over by nine seconds.
Here’s who he is, how his run played out, and what a rugby player’s body brings to a challenge like the Pillars of Hercules. For the full cast, see our Physical 100: Italy cast guide.
- Born: 12 December 1992, Venice (33)
- Sport: former rugby player in Italy’s top flight, with clubs including Mogliano and Valsugana; retired in the 2019–20 season
- TV: Ballando con le stelle (Italy’s Dancing with the Stars), 2021, partnered with Tove Villför; he came close to the final
- Physical 100: Italy: team captain; won the Pillars of Hercules to save his team; out in episode 6’s chariot race
- Known for: the comeback, cutting Marco Begalli, and a relationship with fellow contestant Elisabetta Canalis
Who is Alvise Rigo? From rugby to reality TV
Rigo was born in Venice on 12 December 1992 and grew up in rugby, playing in Italy’s top division for clubs including Mogliano and Valsugana. A run of injuries, reportedly including an inguinal hernia, a broken ankle and a facial fracture, ended his playing career during the 2019–20 season, when he was at Valsugana.
He moved to Milano and reinvented himself: model, bartender, and security for visiting celebrities including Al Pacino, Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner. In 2021 he joined Ballando con le stelle, Italy’s Dancing with the Stars, dancing with Tove Villför and getting within touching distance of the final. According to Chi, he has since moved into acting, including the RAI series Che Dio ci aiuti.
His Physical 100: Italy run
A captain in the Forgotten Temple
Rigo came through the opening grid plank and the duels, and when the 40 survivors were split into eight teams of five, he was one of the captains. The Forgotten Temple asked each team to rebuild a tilting bridge, carry sandbags across it and fill columns with sand for 12 minutes. Rigo’s team lost its head-to-head against Olympic wrestling champion Andrea Minguzzi’s, and went out whole. (See how every Physical 100: Italy challenge worked.)
The Pillars of Hercules: the comeback
The four losing teams each got one shot at redemption, and each sent one representative. Standing between two huge pillars with a D-shaped handle in each hand, like the handles on a gym cable machine, the four had to keep both pillars upright as they filled with water and got steadily heavier. The last one holding saved their whole team.
Rigo outlasted all three rivals: CrossFit champion Elisa Fuliano went first, then personal trainer Paolo Innocenti, then calisthenics and powerlifting athlete Filippo Pici. Italian reviewers noted how comfortably he beat Pici, and Il Messaggero gave him 9 out of 10 for the two episodes (The National has the full elimination order).
Cutting Marco Begalli
Winning came with a price: Rigo had to drop one of his own team. He chose 58-year-old windsurfing champion Marco Begalli, after the two had clashed over strategy during the Temple. Everyone else came back with him, including Federica Pellegrini.
Out by nine seconds
In episode 6’s chariot race, teams of four took turns hauling a chariot around four laps as the load rose from 100 kg to 145 kg. Rigo’s team missed the cut by nine seconds behind Minguzzi’s, the same rival that had beaten them in the Temple, and went out, taking Pellegrini with them. For the result of the final, see our Physical 100: Italy winner page.
Why a rugby player suits the Pillars of Hercules
The Pillars are an isometric test: you hold a position under a load that keeps rising, and nothing moves while you fight it. That’s close to what rugby asks of the body in a scrum, a maul or a ruck. You spend long spells braced against force, with your grip, shoulders, back and legs all working at once, while tired.
- Bracing strength: rugby players spend their careers holding a strong, stiff trunk against pressure from every direction.
- Grip and upper back: binding, tackling and carrying all load the hands, forearms and the muscles between the shoulder blades, the same chain that holds a D-handle out at arm’s length.
- Pain tolerance: the hardest part of a long isometric hold is deciding not to let go. Contact sports practise exactly that.
- Bodyweight as ballast: in a pulling hold, a heavier, strong athlete has more mass to lean against the load. (In a hang, like the Grid of Heroes, the opposite is true.)
How to train for a Pillars-style hold
- Cable crossover holds: stand between the two stacks of a cable machine with a D-handle in each hand, arms out wide, and hold for time. Add a little weight each week.
- Heavy carries and holds: farmer’s carries, then hold the dumbbells or trap bar at your sides until your grip goes.
- Grip work: towel hangs, thick-bar holds and plate pinches. Our dead hang guide has a six-week plan, and the grip strength guide has age norms.
- Trunk bracing: planks and loaded carries with a sandbag held in front of the chest.
- Build slowly: isometric work is tough on tendons. Two or three sessions a week, with sensible increases, beats grinding to failure every day.
Alvise Rigo and Elisabetta Canalis
Rigo and fellow contestant Elisabetta Canalis, the TV presenter and model, met while filming Physical 100: Italy and went on to date. Italian media reported the relationship in early 2026 (Il Messaggero), and by May it was over. “There was chemistry between us… I liked everything about her. But it’s over, as everyone knows,” Rigo told Chi (translated from Italian), and he spoke warmly about her to Tgcom24.
Alvise Rigo FAQ
Who is Alvise Rigo?
A former rugby player from Venice, born in 1992, who retired from the sport in 2019–20 after injuries and moved into modelling, celebrity security and TV, including Italy’s Dancing with the Stars in 2021. He competed in Netflix’s Physical 100: Italy in 2026.
What did Alvise Rigo do on Physical 100: Italy?
He captained a team that lost the Forgotten Temple, then won the Pillars of Hercules comeback round to bring the whole team back, cutting Marco Begalli. His team went out in the chariot race in episode 6, nine seconds short.
How old is Alvise Rigo?
He was born on 12 December 1992, so he was 33 when Physical 100: Italy aired.
Did Alvise Rigo play rugby?
Yes. He played in Italy’s top division for clubs including Mogliano and Valsugana, before injuries ended his career in the 2019–20 season.
Are Alvise Rigo and Elisabetta Canalis together?
They met on Physical 100: Italy and dated, but Rigo said in May 2026 that the relationship was over.
