Gladiators fans will feel let down as the semi-final has been taken off the schedule abruptly.
While the first semi-final episode will still grace our screens this Saturday as planned, the following week’s installment has been pushed off the TV lineup just like Diamond’s forceful push in the duel game.
This rescheduling is to accommodate the airing of the FA Cup quarter-final clash between Manchester City and Newcastle United on March 16. Consequently, the penultimate episode is now slated for March 23, resulting in a two-week gap between episodes for viewers.
The highly anticipated reboot of the beloved 1990s show isn’t the only program affected. Both BBC and ITV soaps have also been rescheduled to make room for the football coverage, a change not welcomed by all.
Since its reintroduction to television screens, the game show has attracted original fans and a new audience as well.
Presented by Bradley Walsh and his son Barney Walsh, the show has been a ratings hit with an average of 6 million viewers tuning in to the premiere. A staggering 8.7 million viewers watched within the first week, marking the BBC’s biggest entertainment debut in seven years.
Let’s hope that some of these viewers are also football enthusiasts; otherwise, we might have disappointed fans akin to Viper when they sit down next Saturday evening to watch their favorite show.
The show brought back a fresh lineup of Gladiator superstars such as Fire, Legend, and Phantom, who have confronted a courageous set of contenders in the ultimate trial of speed, skill, stamina, and strength.
After 11 thrilling episodes, we will discover who emerges as the strongest contender, though the ultimate prize remains a mystery.
During its original run on ITV from 1992 to 2000, contestants won 12 cars and prizes worth over £45,000.
While none of the original gladiators have returned, Fury shares a connection to the past – her father was a contestant on the show’s original run.
‘My dad was on the previous Gladiators, and I remember watching him like it was yesterday. I was seven years old, watching all his training. Then I got into training – my dad built me a climbing wall in the garage,’ she reminisced.
Fury, whose real name is Jodie Ounsley, has created history as the first deaf gladiator on the UK show.
Despite its surging popularity, The Chase host Bradley, 63, initially agreed to host the show as a ‘one-off’. Hopefully, the ratings have changed his mind!
Barney, 26, believes their casting was spot on for a specific reason: ‘I think the beauty of us doing it as a pair is that it’s completely generational and the kids that watched the original Gladiators are now grown up with children of their own.’
Gladiators will be aired on Saturday at 5.50 pm on BBC One