TWO new Gladiators have officially joined the show, with there now 18 in the team of strong men and women.
The new Gladiators are esteemed athletes called Cyclone and Hammer, and behind their stage names, their real names are Lystus Ebosele and Tom Wilson.
One is a British rowing champion, and the other is a super-strong weightlifter.
Announced on The One Show last night, returning Gladiator, Legend, shared his thoughts on the two new stars joining the programme.
When asked by Alex Jones what it was like to have two newbies, Legend jokingly said: “It felt fine. For me, personally, you can never have too many assistants.
“Do you know what I mean? You need people. I’ve got a lot of stuff to carry, you know what I mean?
“Like water, snacks, protein, so, for me, it’s quite useful actually, yeah.”
Newcomer Lystus, who is 23 years of age, is a classic powerlifter who represents Ireland.
She hit 235 kilograms (518 pounds) in knee sleeves at the 2023 IPF World Junior Powerlifting Championships (WJC) in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Meanwhile, another fellow newcomer Tom is an indoor rower from Nottingham, UK who won the 2024 British Indoor Rowing Championships.
He also competed in the 2024 European and World Indoor Rowing Championships
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This comes after The Sun was the first to reveal that two new Gladiators had joined the pack for the next series, boosting the squad to a whopping 18.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Celebrity Gladiators winners revealed as Joel Dommett and Ellie Taylor after gruelling contest” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6366603418112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]A source said back in December: “Gladiators was the biggest entertainment launch in seven years, with almost 10 million viewers watching the first episode in the first month.
“So execs knew they needed to up the ante for the new series, which will air in the new year.
“The two new Gladiators joined filming in the summer but the audience at the Sheffield Arena were sworn to secrecy.
“Everyone is excited to introduce the two newbies to viewers in the New Year.”
The iconic competition will see the return of Sabre, Legend, Nitro, Diamond, Phantom, Athena, Bionic, Fire, Giant, Dynamite, Viper, Electro, Apollo, Comet, Steel, and Fury.
EXCITING NEW SERIES
Gladiators made a comeback last January when Bradley and Barney Walsh revived the show and hosted it together.
It was the second revival of the original 1992 Gladiators series on ITV, after the 2008 series on Sky One.
When Gladiators airs, each episode sees four players – who are known as the “contenders” – compete in a series of physical challenges.
The four contenders, who are made up of two men and two women, compete against the show’s resident Gladiators.
Each Gladiator is an esteemed athlete, meaning they are super tough to beat.
