Gladiators to return for new season with three new games
By Carla Feric, Press Association Entertainment Reporter
Gladiators will return to the BBC for a new season this January, and will be throwing three new games into the mix.
The hit BBC game show is hosted by father and son Bradley and Barney Walsh, and puts contestants’ speed, power, endurance and agility to the test, as they face off with its elite athletes, known as Gladiators.
One of the new games is Destruction, in which players race down lanes of four 8ft barriers, through which they have to smash.
Two contenders will take on one Gladiator – and the first person to make it through the barriers and hit the final button will be the winner.
Bradley Walsh, 65, said: “We’ve got three new events that really raise the stakes, testing both the Gladiators and contenders in completely different ways.”
He added: “There are definitely a few surprises in store, with some unbelievable edge-of-your seat moments.”
Walsh said: “With series three, it’s bigger, bolder and runs like a well-oiled machine.”
His son, Barney, 28, said that while two of the events are new, one of them is “the return of an original”, and he said: “I think people will be glad to have it back.”
He said the show is “loud, fun, and brilliant to be part of”.
Audiences will also see familiar Gladiator faces return to the Sheffield arena, including Apollo, Athena, Bionic, Comet, Cyclone and Diamond.
Dynamite, Electro, Fire, Fury and The Giant will return for the new series alongside Hammer, Legend, Nitro, Phantom, Sabre, Steel and Viper.
Details of the other two new challenges are yet to be announced.
The show, which first launched in 2024, is the second revival of the competition. It was initially on ITV for eight years until 2000 before being axed, and came back on Sky for a short run from 2008 to 2009.
Made by Hungry Bear Media, the new series will include 11 one-hour episodes and a single one-hour Gladiators celebrity special.
Gladiators returns to BBC One and iPlayer on January 17th at 5:45pm.
