1990s game show fans - are you ready?! Iconic TV show Gladiators is reportedly set to return to our screens.
The 20s reboot of Gladiators is rumoured to happen next year, two decades after the hit game show was taken off air and three decades after it appeared on our screens for the very first time. For those who are unfamiliar with the programme, it sees sporty members of the public pitted against bodybuilders and gymnasts in a series of intense challenges.
Gladiators first aired in 1992 and ran for eight series before wrapping up in 2000. Every Saturday, millions of people up and down the country would tune in to watch the show.
According to TV publication Broadcast, Gladiators, which originally aired on ITV, is set to be brought back to life by the BBC and filming for its revival will begin in Sheffield early next year. 14 million viewers tuned in to watch the original Gladiators run, which was hosted by Ulrika Jonsson and John Fashanu, with John Anderson acting as the gruff referee for the challenges.
When the number of people watching Gladiators halved, it was axed in 1999, with the final episode airing on New Year's Day 2000. In 2009, Gladiators was revived by Sky One for a short period, but only returned for two series before going off air again; there have also been plenty of spin-offs in different countries including Australia, the USA, Finland, and South Africa.
Broadcast claims that the BBC is working with Hungry Bear productions, founded by Dan Baldwin, husband of This Morning's Holly Willoughby, and Gladiators is anticipated to call the 13,000 capacity Sheffield Arena home. This means that a live audience may be included in the show.
At this stage, if the reports are true, it is unclear if the original Gladiators will return to the BBC reboot. The original cast included Wolf (Michael Van Wijk) Jet (Diane Youdale) and Lighting (Kim Betts).
In her column for The Sun, Ulrika Jonsson spoke about the backstage drama that took place during filming for Gladiators. She wrote: "I had never encountered body-builders and this was a unique glimpse into their world.
"Eye-popping muscles like that come with an extraordinary vanity. The vast majority of them were so focused on themselves and their amazing bodies that their egos easily outsized anything an average person could imagine."
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