Gladiators, ready! Launch date confirmed for hit ’90s series BBC reboot

The Gladiators reboot is set to launch next week on BBC, the broadcaster has announced.

The sports entertainment show, which was originally broadcast from 1992 to 2000, is set to return to screens on January 13 with 16 new “superhumans” all eager to show off their speed and strength.

Presenter Bradley Walsh and his son Barney will host the 11-episode series, which will see the Gladiators take on Contenders in new and old games, culminating with classic challenge The Eliminator.

Among the Gladiators line-up are Olympians, bodybuilders and weightlifting champions.

Team GB sprinter and Olympic bobsledder Montell Douglas will star as Fire on the show, while Jamie Christian Johal will appear as Giant, earning his name as he is regarded as one of the tallest bodybuilders of all time at 6ft 5ins.

Sheli McCoy, who has competed in five British weightlifting championships and CrossFit championships around the world, will appear as Sabre and Emily Steel, a full-time elite CrossFit athlete, will be known as Dynamite.

Team GB sprinter Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, nicknamed Nitro, and 6ft-tall bodybuilder Livi Sheldon, who will be known as Diamond, are also among the line-up.

Karenjeet Kaur Bains, who is the Commonwealth powerlifting champion, will go by Athena, while Ella-Mae Rayner, a former elite gymnast and semi-professional diver, will be nicknamed Comet.

Bodybuilder Quang Luong, who has committed the last 15 years to fitness, will be dubbed Viper, professional Exeter Chiefs rugby player Jodie Ounsley will be named Fury and CrossFit star Zack George, who won the title of the UK’s Fittest Man in 2020, completes the line-up as Steel.

The series was filmed in Sheffield last year.

Gladiators will launch on BBC One on January 13 at 5.50pm and be available to rewatch on the iPlayer.