Gladiators (2024 British TV series) series 2

The second series of Gladiators aired in the UK on 18 January 2025 on BBC One. It was recorded in August 2024 at the Sheffield Arena.

The series was commissioned by the BBC after a successful relaunch in 2024, which attracted nearly ten million viewers during its whole first series.

The eleven-part series is being presented by the Walshes (Bradley and Barney), who also presented the first series. Mark Clattenburg returns as the lead referee alongside assistants Lee Phillips and Sonia Mkoloma.

In addition to the regular episodes, the series also has a "one-off" celebrity special episode, where four celebrity contestants; Rob Beckett, Joel Dommett, Louise Minchin and Ellie Taylor, took on the Gladiators.

The first heat episode is dedicated to original Gladiators referee John Anderson, who died in July 2024.

Gladiators

All of the Gladiators from the previous series return this series, with Diamond (Livi Sheldon) and Giant (Jamie Christian-Johal) being amongst the very first announced returnees. New Gladiators Cyclone (Lystus Ebosele), and Hammer (Tom Wilson) were revealed in the course of the series.

Not competing

Although Nitro featured on the programme, he did not appear in any of the events during the series, due to knee injury he picked up from the trainings.

Notes

Contenders

The colours, red and blue, used in the table below denote the colours worn by the contender. The winning contenders are marked in bold. As the series contains only five heats, and three quarter finals, in addition to the winners of the previous episodes, the fastest runner-ups advance to the next stage as wildcards (marked with WC).

Notes

Events

In addition to all of the events from the previous series (Duel, Gauntlet, Hang Tough, Collision, The Ring, Powerball, The Wall, The Edge and The Eliminator), some new events are introduced on the second series of Gladiators.

Following events were added to the roster:

• Atlaspheres, which returns from the 1990s version. In the event, the contenders are inside large metal cages, or "spheres" and try to gain points by crossing different score pods on the arena floor, while two Gladiators try to prevent this inside their own spheres. The contenders earn 2 points for every check in the pods.
• Crash Course is a modification of Atlaspheres, where the contenders must race around the arena while simultaneously being pursued by the Gladiators, trying to catch the contenders in their own spheres, before these reach the finish line. The first to complete two laps earns 10 points, and the second has a limited time to reach to finish line after that, to claim 5 points.
• Unleash is a new game of tag, where the contender must make it around the arena floor, and grab a "G" flag from the top of a podium, while a Gladiator is "Unleashed" and starts a pursuit behind them. 10 points for the contender are up to grab if they can pick up the hanging flag at the top of the platform. 5 points for jumping for the flag, and 0 points if the gladiator reaches the contender and grabs this flag behind their back. The competitors must climb the steps to the platform one at a time, or they will be disqualified automatically.

As the result of fan feedback from the previous series, the Gauntlet received some major upgrades for this series. An additional fifth zone/Gladiator was added, and a new "shield" weapon resembling the shape of a claw or bucket was introduced.

Episodes

Note, that some of the episodes are shown in a different order from that which they were filmed in.

Contenders progress (excluding Celebrity Special)

Colour key:

Series champions

Series runners-up

The contender won the episode and advanced

The contender was medically withdrawn from the competition

The contender lost the episode but was the fastest finisher out of the other eliminated contenders and thus qualified

The contender lost the episode and was eliminated

Notes

Contender records

Records announced during the series include:

• Heat 3: Mus set a record time of under 15 seconds to climb The Wall, a record he broke in the semi-final.
• Heat 4: Poppy became the first contender to complete Hang Tough and gain the full 10 points. This was matched in the same episode by Junior. Joe F. set an unwanted record for the shortest time lasted on Duel, with 2 seconds. He then set an Eliminator Record of 1:03.
• Quarter Final 1: Mus set an unwanted record for the fastest time to be knocked off Collision, with 4.4 seconds.
• Quarter Final 2: Joe F. set a record time for gaining the full 10 points on The Edge, with 19.7 seconds.
• Quarter Final 4: Nathan beat Mus' Eliminator Record with 0:59.
• Semi Final 1: Amanda scored a record 18 points in Powerball.
• Semi Final 2: Mus re-took the Eliminator Record with 0:57.
• Final: Amanda set the women's Eliminator Record with 1:18, and Joe F. beat Mus's Eliminator Record with 0:55.

Gladiator injuries

During the training sessions for the second series, Gladiator Nitro (Harry Aikines-Aryeetey) picked up a knee injury whilst training for one of the new events this season, Unleash, and was therefore forced to step out of competing in the events for the series. He was still seen in the programme, "hyping up" his fellow Gladiators and bringing the "Nitro energy" to the arena.

During filming of the second series, Giant (Jamie Christian-Johal) also suffered a severe injury, as he tore his biceps during Powerball in Heat 5. Due to this, he was also sidelined for the rest of the series, but still appears on the locker room segment from the Celebrity Special onwards. Although not seen explicitly, both Bionic (Matty Campbell) and Steel (Zack George) also suffered injuries competing in Gauntlet and Duel respectively, during Semi-Finals stage, owing to both's absence from the events of the Grand Final.

References