Squaring up to the Gladiators

It was one of the most popular shows on British television during the 1990s, making household names out of its super-fit stars. Now, Gladiators is back for a new series. Kate Whiting went on set for a sneak-preview.

So, Shropshire viewers, are you ready for the all-new action show?

Twelve new Gladiators are squaring up to take on 32 brave contenders, who will battle it out for a £50,000 prize when the show starts tomorrow.

Kirsty Gallacher and Ian Wright have taken up the baton of hosting duties from John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson, whilst the original referee John Anderson is back to make sure everyone plays by the rules and to say those immortal words at the start of each game.

"It's a new era, isn't it?" says Kirsty. "And it's evolved. The old Gladiators was brilliant, so it didn't need bettering at all, but now we've got a new bunch of Gladiators and contenders and the games have been modernised.

"We've still got the classic Duel, The Gauntlet and The Eliminator but we've got a new game called Earthquake, which is going to be fantastic, a real spectacle, so we've got the same sort of games but we've just tweaked them, made them much more scary, and the whole show is fresher."

The original Gladiators ran for an epic eight years on ITV1 and made household names of Wolf, Jet, Saracen, Lightning and co. The new series features another pack of unstoppable warriors with names like Battleaxe, Destroyer, Tornado and Oblivion. Among them is Olympic medallist relay runner Du'aine Ladejo, 36, who now goes by the name Predator.

"You got to look out for Tornado, Predator, Tempest and Panther. They're going to be hard to beat man!" says former England football star Ian Wright. "They're very pumped up, very fit, awesomely focused and determined to do well, because they are going to be role models for young kids watching."

So would he pit himself against the Gladiatorial might?

"No way! Not even the smaller Gladiators. They are so fit and so strong and so agile, it's just unbelievable. How do people get so fit?" Kirsty adds: "They've all got their strengths and their weaknesses,so they'll be put on the games that are particularly good for them. I don't want to single anyone out, but they're very strong is all I'll say..."

Unlike the nightly Saturday shows of the 90s, the new Gladiators will pack a more intense punch with 18 shows squeezed into just three weeks.

"It's a very, very tense schedule, so it's a bit of a mountain to climb in a way," admits Kirsty, "but it's a good situation."

The mum-of-one says she didn't even have to think about her answer when she was offered the job. "It's such a massive show and it was so brilliant, wasn't it? I was a child and then teenager when it was last on and I was very much into my sport as I am now. It was just a great show to watch on a Saturday night."

Did she have a favourite Gladiator back then?

"Jet was so beautiful and she's been on set so we've seen her a little bit. She still looks unbelievably amazing. She was quite an inspiration to lots of girls and I think lots of guys fancied her!"

Besides making friends with the new team of Gladiators, Kirsty says she's really looking forward to working with Ian.

"He's really good because he's a real showman and he's obviously quite used to whipping the crowd up, he's used to his events as a sportsman. I'm a bit more of a straight man as a presenter but I think we work well together. He's quite the joker and I'm a bit more serious about things."

The word Ian uses to describe his co-host is "meticulous". He explains: "She leaves no stone unturned. To a certain extent I am very professional, but they are giving me a free run at ad-libbing which is just perfect for me. We've got such a cool gig."

Back in the 90s, John Fashanu was known for his habit of provoking bad-boy Wolf. Will Ian be taunting any of this year's Gladiator stars?

"If that's going to happen it will happen naturally, because if you try to force relationships, it gets a bit false. The show stands up on its own, so you don't need to over-egg the pudding."

Ian thinks the key to Gladiators' popularity lies in its unique place among the millions of other reality TV shows. "This is just the normal man in the street who's got fit in the gym and now they've got the opportunity to give that an outlet.

"Britain has got talent, we've seen that, but at the end of day Britain's fit as well. And once they've done it, they can go back to their normal lives and they will be heroes because people will have seen them on the show and that will be enough for them."

l The new series of Gladiators starts tomorrow at 6pm, on Sky One.