Gladiators boss announces celebrity spin-off after BBC reboot ratings boom

THE boss of Gladiators has announced a celebrity spin-off after the BBC reboot had a ratings boom.

The iconic 90s show was revived on BBC One earlier this year, with the final airing last Saturday.

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It has proved a huge hit for the channel and the production company behind its return.

Boss Dan Baldwin yesterday confirmed there will be a celebrity spin off of Gladiators, as he discussed his longer term plans for rebooting retro favourites.

Speaking about Gladiators during an appearance on BBC Radio 4, Dan, chief of Hungry Bear Media who make the show, said: "I can reveal we are going to do a celebrity special.

“You always look at old shows that are no longer on television. You are always coming up with new ways of bringing back a show.

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"There is nothing wrong with that because those shows were great for a reason.

"As well as coming up with new ideas, we’ve always got one eye on what could come back and what could be a hit like Gladiators is."

Dan - who is the husband of TV star Holly Willoughby - discussed how the revival came about and how he selected the unusual names of the stars of the show.

He said: "We wanted it to be event television so we had to get an audience of 3,000 people every episode.

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"The first episode we had almost 10,000 turn up. So at that point, we knew that we had something.

"The first episode got 6.4m. Now it’s at 9.8m, the first episode, because of catchup. And we didn’t think this show would be something that people would catch up on.

"But so many people catch up on it and it’s gone from strength to strength and we’re really happy with how it’s gone."

The show was hosted by Bradley Walsh and his son Barney at Sheffield Arena, and Dan continued: "I think audience is vital and they reflect what is happening. We wanted to have families in that audience with their sponge fingers and signs and they really got into the event of it.

"It was interesting because we almost made two shows. We made a TV show and a live event because people who turn up, they have to be excited, you don’t want them leaving.

"And they were all very excited. Sometimes the mums and dads were more excited than the kids.

Nail Biting Drama

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"But I think we also hit a sweet spot because a lot of the parents there were kids back in the day when Gladiators was on and now they have children that are the perfect age to watch it. So it’s almost the perfect ven diagram.

"There is nail biting drama in this show and the underdog coming through.

"And I think as with all sporting events, some of the action and drama is thrilling and you can’t write it. I think that you’re always going to get that on Gladiators.

"Seeing these physical specimens going head to head and the underdog coming out, the doctor or the nurse or the teacher winning, there is always room for that and that’s just part of our culture to enjoy moments like that."

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He concluded: "I think Gladiators is here to stay, I’m going to say, it’s here to stay."

Gladiators series one is available on BBC iPlayer.