Gladiators to introduce second new event next week

BBC gameshow Gladiators is to introduce a second new event in next week’s episode.

Everest will see a gladiator and a contender face off while suspended on a platform 21ft above the arena, separated by a large barrier, where they will be challenged to push their opponent off while the platform tilts.

It comes after the first of three new challenges, Destruction, was debuted during Saturday’s episode, seeing players race down lanes of four 8ft barriers that they have to smash.

Two contenders take on one gladiator, and the first person to make it through the barriers and hit the final button is the winner.

Speaking about the new challenges, presenter 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.

“There are definitely a few surprises in store, with some unbelievable edge-of-your seat moments.

“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 added: “I think people will be glad to have it back.”

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 programme puts contestants’ speed, power, endurance and agility to the test, as they face off with its elite athletes, known as gladiators.

This series, the gladiators are Apollo, Athena, Bionic, Comet, Cyclone, Diamond, Dynamite, Electro, Fire, Fury, The Giant, Hammer, Legend, Nitro, Phantom, Sabre, Steel, and Viper.

Gladiators continues on BBC One and iPlayer on Saturday January 24.