Gladiators is a British television series which began airing on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on 13 January 2024. It is the second revival of the 1992 Gladiators series on ITV, after the 2008 series on Sky One. The series is produced by Hungry Bear Media and MGM Alternative UK.
The series is presented by Bradley Walsh and his son, Barney. Each episode consists of four players, known as 'contenders' – two male and two female – competing in a series of physically challenging events against the show's resident 'Gladiators', a group of elite athletes – such as bodybuilders or track and field athletes – and eventually competing in one contenders-only final event, the Eliminator. The series has introduced a total of 18 new Gladiators. The series consists of the heats, the quarter-finals, the semi-finals and a grand final, to determine the overall champions. It is refereed by Mark Clattenburg, assisted by Sonia Mkoloma and Lee Phillips, with voice-over commentary provided by Guy Mowbray.
Upon its release, the revived series of Gladiators became one of the most successful family entertainment launches for the BBC in seven years, attracting more than six million viewers during its premiere episode, and scoring nearly nine million during the whole first series. The BBC subsequently commissioned Gladiators: Epic Pranks, a spin-off children's prank series for CBBC. The fifteen-episode series, filmed behind the scenes of the main programme, and hosted by Gladiator Nitro, started airing in February 2025.
Alongside the commissioning of a second series, which began airing in January 2025, a "one-off" celebrity special, which was filmed alongside the second series, was aired on New Year's Day 2025 on BBC One; the episode featured Rob Beckett, Joel Dommett, Ellie Taylor and Louise Minchin as the contenders taking on the Gladiators. A second celebrity special aired on Christmas Day 2025, this time with Sam Thompson, Joe Wicks, Vogue Williams and Nicola Adams as the contenders. In March 2025, during the Red Nose Day 2025, a comedy sketch of Gladiators was seen, in which comedian Chabuddy G took on Gladiator Bionic in Duel.
In April 2025, it was announced that Gladiators was to embark on a new live arena tour across the cities of the UK, including Liverpool, Manchester, London, Birmingham and Glasgow, in November and December 2025. During the tour, the super fans of the programme can meet the Gladiators in person, and witness live action on the arena floor, as the Gladiators face some of returning contenders from the first two series of the reboot. After the success of the first tour, a second will take place from October 2026, adding in new locations like Aberdeen and Newcastle.
Production Background and development The original LWT series of Gladiators aired between 1992 and 2000 on ITV and its first revival aired on Sky One in 2008 and 2009. In July 2022, it was reported that the BBC were in talks with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, who hold the rights to the original format, to relaunch the show on BBC One. The BBC later announced that the revival, produced by Hungry Bear Media and MGM Television, would air in 2023.
The casting for the new contenders took place across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in April 2023. The following month it was announced that Bradley Walsh would co-host the revived series alongside his son Barney.
Filming and release Filming of the programme took place at the Sheffield Arena, which previously hosted the 1995 live shows for the original ITV series, in June 2023. Tickets to attend filming of the series were free. Applause Store, the company who oversaw ticket distribution, stated that there was an "unprecedented demand" for tickets and the venue reached its 3,000 capacity earlier than anticipated, which led to ticketholders being denied entry. In a statement, Applause Store said that entrance would be on a "first-come first-served" basis dependent on capacity, and that there was no guarantee of admission to the venue.
Gladiators Giant, Nitro, Fury and Fire made an appearance during the Strictly Come Dancing finale in mid-December 2023, where Fire stated that the programme would premiere in January 2024. The first official trailer of the show was released on 25 December 2023, showing both new and classic events. On 3 January 2024, the BBC announced that the series would premiere on 13 January at 5.50 pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The revival of Gladiators attracted an audience of 6 million viewers, becoming the biggest entertainment launch for the BBC in seven years.
Owing to the ratings success, BBC bosses announced that they had been planning for the next series, which was filmed in August 2024 at the Sheffield Arena, and airing in January 2025. According to a BBC boss, there would be some adjustments to the flow of the game, and some new events for the second series, but all of the Gladiators from the first series were set to return. The casting for the contenders of the second series closed in June 2024. During the broadcast of the show's second series, BBC again renewed the show for a third series, with filming taking place in summer 2025. The following year, the day after the third series premiered on 17 January 2026, the BBC renewed the show for a fourth series which was filmed in July/August 2026. The series is due to air in early 2027 on BBC One.
Format
The format of Gladiators follows that of the previous series, where two men and two women compete against the Gladiators before taking on each other on The Eliminator obstacle course, and the infamous "Travelator". The series follows a knock-out tournament format of preliminary heats leading to finals.
Events
The first revived series of Gladiators saw the return of the classic events: Hang Tough, The Wall, Powerball, Duel, and Gauntlet.
Some Brand-new events have appeared in the revived series. Collision, The Edge and The Ring debuted in Season 1, Unleash in Season 2 and Destruction and Everest in Season 3.
The second series, airing in 2025, saw the return of the first event ever played in the 1990s version, Atlaspheres. This series also saw the introduction of a “Sister-Event” to Atlaspheres named Crash Course. The third series saw the re-introduction of Suspension Bridge which had appeared in the original and 2008 revival series. For unknown reasons The Ring was dropped for Series 3.
Cast and crew
Presenters The revamped series of Gladiators is hosted by father-son duo Bradley and Barney Walsh. Donna Walsh, Barney's mother and Bradley's wife, was head choreographer for the "G Force" troupe of cheerleaders on the 1992 series. Bradley also has previous connections to the show, having taken part in a "Celebrities vs Jockeys" special episode of the programme in 1997.
The Gladiators Throughout May 2023, the 16-strong roster of Gladiators were announced on Morning Live and The One Show, among other media outlets. Profiles were also released on the BBC Media Centre websites.
In January 2025, the BBC announced the addition of two new Gladiators ahead of its second series. Lystus Ebosele and Tom Wilson portray Cyclone and Hammer respectively.
In April 2026, it was announced that male Gladiator Giant (Jamie Bigg) had left the show and will not be returning for the fourth series. Consequently, Scottish strongman champion Tom Stoltman was revealed as a new male gladiator for Series 4.
In August 2026, former rugby union player Joe Marler was announced to be joining the show as Mauler, and was dubbed the first "celebrity Gladiator" due to his already established recognition in the media. Male Gladiators Alias Portrayed by Televised series Live shows BackgroundApolloAlexander GraySeries 1–Live Tour 2025, Experience 2026, Live Tour 2026Former rugby union and NFL playerBionicMatty CampbellSeries 1–Live Tour 2025, Experience 2026, Live Tour 2026Bodybuilder and former sprinter and footballerGiantJamie BiggSeries 1–3Live Tour 2025Former professional bodybuilder and firefighterHammerTom WilsonSeries 2–Live Tour 2025, Experience 2026, Live Tour 2026National rowing champion and personal trainerLegendMatt MorsiaSeries 1–Live Tour 2025, Live Tour 2026Bodybuilder, powerlifter, and former long and triple jumperMaulerJoe MarlerSeries 4–Former rugby union player, The Celebrity Traitors contestant, podcaster and TV personality.NitroHarry Aikines-AryeeteySeries 1, 3–Live Tour 2025, Experience 2026, Live Tour 2026World and Commonwealth sprinting championPhantomToby OlubiSeries 1–Live Tour 2025, Experience 2026, Live Tour 2026Bobsledder and sprinterSteelZack GeorgeSeries 1–Live Tour 2025, Experience 2026, Live Tour 2026Elite CrossFit athlete and sports modelViperQuang LuongSeries 1–Live Tour 2025, Experience 2026, Live Tour 2026Bodybuilder and boxerTBATom StoltmanSeries 4–Three-time World's Strongest Man Female Gladiators Alias Portrayed by Televised series Live shows BackgroundAthenaKarenjeet Kaur BainsSeries 1–Live Tour 2025, Experience 2026, Live Tour 2026Three-time Commonwealth powerlifting championCometElla-Mae RaynerSeries 1–Live Tour 2025, Experience 2026, Live Tour 2026Former elite gymnast, diver, and cheerleaderCycloneLystus EboseleSeries 2–3Live Tour 2025, Experience 2026, Live Tour 2026Irish powerlifting championDiamondLivi SheldonSeries 1–Live Tour 2025, Experience 2026, Live Tour 2026Bodybuilder and former footballerDynamiteEmily SteelSeries 1–Live Tour 2025, Experience 2026, Live Tour 2026CrossFit athlete, weightlifter, and former swimmerElectroJade PackerSeries 1–Live Tour 2025, Experience 2026, Live Tour 2026Hybrid-athlete, and former bodybuilder and sprinterFireMontell DouglasSeries 1–Live Tour 2025, Experience 2026, Live Tour 2026Commonwealth sprint relay champion and former bobsledder, broadcasterFuryJodie OunsleySeries 1–Live Tour 2025, Experience 2026, Live Tour 2026Former rugby union player and coal carrying champion, broadcasterSabreSheli J. McCoySeries 1–Live Tour 2025, Experience 2026, Live Tour 2026Scottish weightlifting and CrossFit championTBATabby StoeckerSeries 4Olympic gold medalist
Other cast members
Referees Name Tenure BackgroundSeries 1–Clattenburg is one of the UK's most decorated football referees. He adjudicated the 2012 Men's Olympic football final, and the 2016 Champions League and European Championship finals.Sonia MkolomaSeries 1–Mkoloma is a former English international netball player. She competed at five Netball World Cups and three Commonwealth Games. Mkoloma made 123 international test appearances.Lee PhillipsSeries 1–Phillips is a fitness professional, model, firefighter and CrossFit athlete. He competed in the World Police and Firefighter Games, winning the Ultimate Firefighter and CrossFit competitions.Unknown assistant refereeSeries 3An unknown male assistant referee replaced Phillips in the fifth heat and for some events in the first quarter final. Purvinder Kaur Shokar was credited as an assistant referee for the fourth and fifth heat but she did not appear until the final. Purvinder Kaur ShokarSeries 3Shokar was first listed in the credits for Series 3 Heat 4 and in Series 3 Heat 5 but she did not appear. However, an unncredited male assistant referee assisted in Heat 5 and Quarter Final 1. Again in the Final, Shokar was credited where she replaced Mkoloma for the whole episode. Shokar is a founder of the Women's Football Academy and is a UEFA-C qualified coach.
Commentators Name Tenure BackgroundSeries 1–Mowbray is a football commentator. He has provided commentary for the FIFA World Cup, The Africa Cup of Nations, the UEFA European Championships, the Emirates FA Cup, and the Premier League. He has also provided voiceovers for the EA FC video game.
Injuries
Due to the rough, physical nature of the show, several contestants and Gladiators have suffered a large spectre of different injures during the filmings. Detailed below are the most notable Gladiator-injuries during the course of a series.