The popular BBC programme is returning for a third series
Bradley Walsh and his son Barney said there are a “few surprises in store”(Image: Ian West/PA Wire)
Bradley Walsh will return to screens with a “bigger and bolder” season of Gladiators. The hit BBC game show hosted by dad and son Bradley and Barney Walsh returns this month. The show puts contestants’ speed, power, endurance and agility to the test, as they face off with its elite athletes, known as Gladiators.
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.
The BBC programme is now returning to BBC One for a third series, this time with three exciting new games. One of the new games is called Destruction, in which players race down lanes of four eight foot 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.
Speaking about the new series 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.”
Bradley Walsh and Barney Walsh return for series three of Gladiators(Image: BBC/Hungry Bear Media Ltd/Graeme Hunter)
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”. 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. 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 Saturday, January 17 at 5.45pm.
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