Former Gladiators Return for BBC Reboot

By Olimpia ZagnatBBC News, East Midlands

What do a former firefighter, a professional sprinter and the UK’s fittest man have in common? Unfortunately for contenders in the BBC’s upcoming reboot of Gladiators, they stand united against those willing to take them on in a demanding and sinew-straining events. Are you ready?

The BBC will be hoping the show, returning to screens on Saturday, can replicate the success of the programme, which was first broadcast in the UK on ITV on 10 October 1992, before it ended in 2000.

Twenty-four years later, three of the 16 Gladiators competing in the new series have spoken of their journeys. Gladiators Zack George, Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and Jamie Christian Johal are representing the East Midlands. With an impressive sporting background, the trio say most importantly, they are hoping to inspire the young generation.

Zack – aka Steel – says his life has changed for the better, thanks to Gladiators, after growing up overweight as a child.

Zack lives in Loughborough – the town that is home to Loughborough University, which has trained and played host to a number of legendary athletes, such as Paula Radcliffe, Lord Seb Coe and Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson. ‘When I was a child, I had pretty much the opposite of what I have now,’ he told the BBC.

‘I was very self-conscious of how I looked. I used to skip swimming lessons at school to not take my top off.

‘I used to eat McDonald's and KFC four times a week and sweets every day, and hated to exercise.

‘But I used to really look up to the Gladiators. I used to look up to these guys’ physiques and I’d liked to pretend that I was going to be like that one day.

‘I used to draw abs on my stomach – like drawing sticks on a pot belly.’

Zack, whose strength has earned him the name Steel, won the title of the UK’s Fittest Man in 2020, and he also ranked 26 out of 126,461 on the global CrossFit leaderboard.

Swapping the burgers for a healthy diet and intense exercise, the 33-year-old says his mission as one of the Gladiators is to ‘inspire and motivate the next generation watching the show’.

This is, however, just one of the shared aims of the tough triumvirate. ‘We’re brought to this platform to entertain the show’, says Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, who describes himself as an energetic competitor. Harry, a sprinter from Leicestershire, says he confronts contenders with a smile on his face.

The 35-year-old has been leaving competitors in the dust from a young age, becoming the champion at both 100m and 200m at the World Youth Championships.

In 2005, he won the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year, aged 17, and said he was the fastest 14-year-old of all time in Europe. Harry went on to win four gold medals in the men’s 100m European Championships and at the Commonwealth Games. It is this raw speed and fire that earned the Olympian the name Nitro in Gladiators.

‘I was gifted from a young age,’ he added.

Now wearing the electric blue costume alongside the two other Gladiators, he said: ‘It’s a celebration of what we are and what we’ve done.’

While keeping the nostalgic ’90s feel of the original show, the latest series will bring new games enhanced by effects and technology.

‘With the advance of social media, I think you’re going to know the Gladiators a lot more,’ Jamie Christian Johal said.

Standing at 6ft 5in (1.95m), the former firefighter turned bodybuilder – known more accurately as Giant – said: ‘It’s really a cream of the crop in terms of athletic ability.’

The show was so iconic before, and we all watched it. The feeling I had watching it as a kid was of looking up to these seemingly-immortal characters at the time.

‘Being young and obviously not experiencing anybody of that size before, I was just in awe of what they could do.’

Jamie, 38, who served Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service for seven years, said Gladiators ‘inspired the youth of yesterday’.

He added: ‘Now hopefully I can do the same and encourage the Gladiators of the future and children to get into fitness and just attack life – and be the best person they can be.’

The series was filmed in June at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, in front of an audience of 3,000 people.

Soon, many more will witness the reignition of a competition that stayed with millions for decades. Gladiators starts on Saturday at 17:50 GMT on BBC One and iPlayer.

Follow BBC East Midlands on Twitter, on Facebook, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].