“Contenders, Ready!” Gladiators Returns to Sheffield for Series 2 Filming

The Ring, Photo by Steel City Snapper

Contenders, ready! Gladiators, ready!” After a hugely successful first series, the BBC’s Gladiators returns to Utilita Arena Sheffield to film Series 2 this August. And as with Series 1, which filmed in the summer of 2023, free tickets are available now via Applause Store for those who would like to attend.

Gladiators was originally broadcast on ITV between October 1992 and January 2000 and was an instant hit. The show was revived in 2008 by Sky and ran for two further series, albeit with changes to the format. Then the series was revived by the BBC, returning to the original format and broadcast from January this year.

Hosted by Bradley and Barney Walsh, Series 1 of the show gripped the nation again and quickly became the biggest entertainment launch for a new BBC series in seven years, with 28-day figures showing that 9.8m viewers watched the first episode with the series averaging 8.3 million viewers to date. It’s a big coup for Sheffield that the series is filmed at the Utilita Arena, and there are plenty of references on screen to it being recorded in the Steel City.

Each episode of Gladiators features four brave “contenders”, two males and two females, who compete in a series of physically challenging events against the show's resident “Gladiators”, and eventually competing in one final spectacular event, the Eliminator (which the Gladiators don’t take part in).

Famously hosted by Ulrika Jonsson, the original 1990s Gladiators series made household names of the likes of Jet, Wolf and Hunter. The current BBC series introduced 16 new impressive Gladiators who quickly gained a new fanbase: Apollo, Athena, Bionic, Comet, Diamond, Dynamite, Electro, Fire, Fury, Giant, Legend, Nitro, Phantom, Sabre, Steel and Viper.

Duel, Photo by Steel City Snapper

The 2024 series consisted of eleven 60-minute episodes which comprised five heats, three quarter-finals, two semi-finals and a grand final, to determine the overall champions (no spoilers, all episodes are still available on BBC iPlayer!). The 2025 series will follow the same format, with the addition of a celebrity special that will also be filmed in Sheffield.

All of the events the contenders face are designed to test their speed, strength and endurance. Events from the original Gladiators that returned included Hang Tough, The Wall, Powerball, Gauntlet, and of course the iconic Duel. New events introduced in the 2024 series included Collision, The Edge, and The Ring. Some more events from the original 1990s series will return for the 2025 series, along with some new events, while all of the Gladiators from the 2024 series will return.

Be under no illusion, Gladiators is dangerous. Various contestants had to withdraw during the 2024 series, and two Gladiators sustained injuries during filming: Comet broke her ankle and foot, while Sabre tore her hamstring. Hopefully injuries will be kept to a minimum during the filming of the 2025 series.

To help reduce injuries and ensure a fair contest, Gladiators is refereed by the experienced Mark Clattenburg (a former international football referee who adjudicated the 2012 Men’s Olympic football final alongside the 2016 Champions League and European Championship finals), assisted by Sonia Mkoloma (a former international netball player who competed at five Netball World Cups and three Commonwealth Games), and Lee Phillips (a fitness professional and firefighter), with commentary provided by Guy Mowbray (who is primarily known for his football commentary).

So what’s it like to attend a day’s Gladiators filming at Utilita Arena Sheffield? I attended the filming of one of the Quarter Final days in June 2023. To ensure a full arena more tickets are given out than there is capacity for so it’s best to arrive early to ensure entry. Filming for my session began at around 1pm with the introduction of the Gladiators, and was complete with the Eliminator final by 7:30pm.

Collision, Photo by Steel City Snapper

It takes a while to set up and take down the various different events (especially the huge Eliminator final), but there’s always a brilliant family atmosphere in the arena, and Bradley and Barney Walsh are great at entertaining the audience! You’ll be amazed at how many times “professional” Bradley Walsh fluffs his lines, but also it’s really interesting to see this comic-master improvise different ways of doing things.

There’s usually opportunities to meet the Gladiators, mini-events like tug of war for kids to take part in, and competitions to win fun prizes. It’s really exciting to see the different events live, and also fascinating to see how they film it too. The audience are fully involved in the filming, encouraged to wave the iconic foam fingers and to sing “Another One Bites The Dust” if a contestant is beaten by a Gladiator! So although it takes a long time to film each 60-minute episode, it’s a lot of fun and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone.

“Contestants ready!” “Gladiators ready!” “Audience ready?” You can apply for free tickets to attend the filming of Gladiators at Utilita Arena Sheffield here.