Gladiators will finally make its long-awaited return to screens on Saturday after 25 years, with a whole new cast set to do battle in the iconic arena.
The beloved BBC show has been given a ‘woke‘ makeover, with famous skimpy outfits and cheerleaders axed.
The show saw members of the public battle it out against a cast of superhuman-like athletes known as gladiators.
However, die-hard fans are concerned that this ‘woke’ new image will be a far cry from the show’s heyday, which at its peak pulled in 14 million viewers.
So how does this new series of Gladiators compare to the 90s original? MailOnline takes a look at how this version compares to the classic…
Gladiators will finally make its long-awaited return to screens on Saturday after 25 years, with a whole new cast set to do battle in the iconic arena
The iconic show, which last aired in 2000 (pictured), has been given a ‘ woke ‘ makeover, with famous skimpy outfits and cheerleaders axed
The Gladiators
This new series will see a brand new troupe of Gladiators face off in the arena, with newcomer Giant (left) set to be a huge presence akin to Wolf (right) in the original run
This new series also has inclusivity at the forefront, with Fury (left) set to be the show’s first ever deaf Gladiator. Jet (right) was another iconic star from the original 90s run
This new version of Gladiators sees a brand new cast of 16 athletes going head-to-head with contestants.
One of the most iconic from the original series was Michael Van Wijk, aka Wolf, who owns a gym called ‘Wolf’s Gym’ in Auckland, New Zealand where he now lives.
Wolf was previously deemed the most popular gladiator on the series, albeit controversial thanks to his mean persona.
Another iconic contestant is Diane Youdale, also known as Jet, who has remained on views’ TV screens and radio airwaves, presenting on BBC Tees and featuring on BBC shows like Look North and Inside Out.
Diane hit the headlines again in July when she revealed she’s engaged.
The former athlete said on the Chillin’ with Ice podcast: ‘Just over a year ago, a gorgeous lady approached me in my local supermarket and over a year later, we’re going to get married.’
Among the 16 athletes set to make their Gladiators debut is the monstrous Giant, who at 6ft 5inches towers over his competitors.
The hunk, who eats over 10,000 calories a day, said: ‘The weirdest moment for me was when I was competing on Duel.
‘I was looking across at the contender, and just beyond his shoulder I spotted Saracen, one of the original Gladiators in the audience staring at me.’
This new series also has inclusivity at the forefront, with Fury set to be the show’s first ever deaf Gladiator.
Describing it as her superpower, she said: ‘I am used to playing rugby in front of crowds, so I don’t feel nervous.
‘In Sheffield the crowd and the atmosphere was just amazing, and I just took it all in and really appreciated how amazing everyone was. It was wild; the atmosphere, the noise, the foam fingers. Everyone was just buying into it.’
The outfits
For many die-hard Gladiators fans, the skimpy lycra outfits were a screen stape, as the daring athletes were keen to flaunt their toned and muscular physiques
However, in an attempt to make the show more woke BBC bosses have decided to give ‘skimpy’ lycra outfits the boot
Now the ladies who will take on the challengers will be wearing aerodynamic outfits favoured by Team GB athletes (Sabre pictured left, original series star Siren is pictured right)
This series has also seen the famous cheerleaders face the axe by bosses
For many die-hard Gladiators fans, the skimpy lycra outfits were a screen stape, as the daring athletes were keen to flaunt their toned and muscular physiques.
However, in an attempt to make the show more woke BBC bosses have decided to give ‘skimpy’ lycra outfits the boot.
The 1992 show was almost as famous for the tiny spandex tops and pants worn by the contestants as it was for the drama and epic clashes.
The female costumes were so tiny that Suzanne Cox, also known as Vogue in the series, later admitted that she had to use bum glue to stop her outfit from shifting out of place.
Speaking to the GladPod, a podcast that interviews the ex-stars, Cox said: ‘There was a thing we all used to use – I’d never used it before, but apparently, it’s a bodybuilding thing, called bum sticks.
‘It’s a bit like a roll-on deodorant, but it contains skin glue. I don’t think the guys used it, but we girls used to use it constantly, so when we were rolling around, our bums didn’t hang out.’
Now the ladies who will take on the challengers will be wearing aerodynamic outfits favoured by Team GB athletes.
This series has also seen the famous cheerleaders face the axe by bosses.
G-force was a group of eight women who would perform an array of dance routines alongside the contestants and gladiators.
The axing of the cheerleaders comes as a shock after Donna Derby, hosts Bradley Walsh’s wife and Barney Walsh’s mum, was head choreographer in 1992 series for all eight series.
Talking about the launch of the reboot Bradley said: ‘Barney’s mum, my wife, used to choreograph all the cheerleaders and then subsequently became an associate producer on the show for all the boys that ran the show originally.
‘I used to go down, I’d watch five weeks filming. It was great being there. And then Barney came along, and I used to walk Barney around in the pram around the arena floor, meet all the gladiators.
‘He must have been about one. And so it’s a whole family affair.’
Hosts
The original series was hosted by Ulrika Jonsson and John Fashanu (left), and this new run will be fronted by Bradley Walsh and his son Barney (right)
New referees Lee Phillips, Mark Clattenberg and Sonia Mkolma will take over from the veteran MC John Anderson (right)
The original Gladiators was fronted by Ulrika Jonsson and John Fashanu, with the former footballer landing the role despite little presenting experience, and later rugby union player Jeremy Guscott.
Ulrika was well-known to viewers at the time after working as a weather presenter on TV-AM, and she went onto share a romance with James Crossley, or Hunter.
While Ulrika certainly brought a touch of glamour to the 90s original, this reboot will be fronted by veteran broadcaster Bradley Walsh and his son Barney.
This won’t be the first time the pair have joined forces for a TV series, as they previously appeared on the ITV travel series Breaking Dad.
Bradley admitted that after their travel series, he had doubts about working with his son again, telling The Sun: ‘I did have to talk dad into doing this, because of what we’d done on Breaking Dad.’
Bradley hit back: ‘I was just sick to death of getting thrown off buildings and things like that.’
The BBC has become embroiled in a nepotism row after casting father and son duo Bradley and Barney to present the rebooted version of Gladiators.
Bosses are said to be ‘concerned’ at the signing, particularly because of the corporation’s strong policies about going through due process before hiring staff.
While Bradley has decades of experience hosting high-profile television programmes, Barney has yet to anchor one.
One BBC staff member told the Mail: ‘It has caused a stink’, adding that the casting has been noticed by the ‘upper echelons’, some of whom ‘aren’t exactly happy’.
Bradley’s wife – and Barney’s mother – Donna Derby also has links to Gladiators, as she was head choreographer for the Gladiators cheerleaders in the original 1990s series.
The set
The original Gladiators was filmed at the National Indoor Arena (NIA) in Birmingham (left) while this new run was recorded at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield
This series will see the return of some of the original’s most iconic events, including Hang Tough, The Wall, Powerball, and Duel
The original Gladiators was filmed at the National Indoor Arena (NIA) in Birmingham, with various new events introduced each series.
However, this new incarnation has been recorded at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield, with much of the set eerily similar to the original.
The new set once again features the same rectangular arena surrounded by the live audience, as well as some modern electronic display technology, including the iconic logo being projected across the famous Wall.
This series will see the return of some of the original’s most iconic events, including Hang Tough, The Wall, Powerball, and Duel.
Three new events have also been introduced: Collision, where gladiators swing across a bridge in an effort to knock off a contender running across to score points; The Edge, where a contender must make it from one side of an elevated grid without being pushed down and off ‘the Edge’ by a gladiator; and The Ring, in which contenders have to hit a sensor in the centre of a large ring without being tackled by a Gladiator.
Rules and regulations
Other changes to this series include more vigorous drug testing for the contestants
After the previous series was mired in steroid and cocaine scandals, the stars will have to undergo regular tests (the 1990s lineup are pictured)
Other changes to this series include more vigorous drug testing for the contestants.
After the previous series was mired in steroid and cocaine scandals, the stars will have to undergo regular tests.
BBC bosses overseeing the reboot are said to be hell-bent on keeping the series ‘clean as a whistle’ – with the motto being ‘keep it wholesome’.
In the 90’s ITV show stars such as Ace, Hawk and Shadow were exposed as steroid abusers.
Shadow — Michael Jefferson King, now 62 — spiralled into addiction.
He was jailed last year for threatening to kneecap a drug-user over a £1,000 debt.
There have also been concerns about the number of injuries the talent have sustained.
Already while filming Gladiators Comet and Sabre have revealed they suffered severe injuries leaving them unable to compete.
Comet, real name Ella-Mae Rayner, took to her Instagram to share snaps of her recovery as she revealed she had broken her ankle and foot.
The former elite gymnast, 28, had to undergo surgery as doctors attempted to rebuild her badly injured extremity.
Meanwhile Sabre, real name Sheli McCoy, tore her hamstring and has been forced to use crutches.
In her social media post, she wrote: ‘Sometimes you are the hammer… sometimes you are the nail. While filming for Gladiators I incurred a little battle injury – a hamstring tear.’
Gladiators returns Saturday 13 January at 5:50pm on BBC One and iPlayer.