Celebrity Gladiators star Joel Dommett praises ‘incredible’ series as he signs up for spin-off

Virgin Radio

7 Aug 2024, 10:00

Joel Dommett has praised the “incredible” work that goes into making Gladiators ahead of his run at the infamous Eliminator during the upcoming celebrity special.

A new star-studded version of the hit entertainment show has been announced, with TV and comedy stars taking each other - and the Gladiators - on in a new one-off episode.

There are four famous faces in training to compete in one of the toughest, most physical sports entertainment game shows on the telly - stand-up comedian Rob Beckett, TV presenter and triathlete Louise Minchin, presenter and comedian Dommett, and Ted Lasso star Ellie Taylor. 

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Speaking exclusively to virginradio.co.uk, Joel discussed the Saturday night telly behemoth that the new Gladiators became when it relaunched in January, and credited its major success to its “old school” feeling, and likened it to fellow weekend competition show The Masked Singer. 

He explained: “[Gladiator] brings a bunch of people to television that it hasn't previously done before. If you can get those shows which bring in 38 year olds like myself and eight year olds, you are doing something amazing. You're creating something incredible. 

The Masked Singer does that, Gladiators certainly does that. It feels like that is kind of what Saturday night telly is about. It's about bringing people together and bringing families together to enjoy something. Usually for different reasons, but still enjoying it.”

The Survivor star then shared how the landscape of Saturday night TV has changed for the better in recent years, adding: “When Gladiators was on, it was on just before The Masked Singer, and it would be like Gladiators, Michael McIntyre's Big Show, Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway. 

“When you list these shows that are on telly at the moment, it's so great. The stuff we’re making is just brilliant. It feels so entertaining. 10 years ago, you would have one of those shows every six months, now we've just got all the shows happening all the time.”

Joe added: “We're making better telly than we've ever made. So I feel like maybe the competition is quite cool.”

Back in May, Joel seemingly squashed rumours of taking part in a Celebrity Gladiators special, having told virginradio.co.uk that he “messed up” when fans questioned whether he was on the spin-off after he posted a rather cryptic Instagram post flexing his muscles. 

Explaining the origins of the post and why people were begging for his Gladiators debut, the This Morning host shared: “I had a picture of me when I was doing Survivor. I looked pretty hench. I was thinking of a good caption, and you can't just go 'I look good in this'. That's not a good caption. 

“Instead I went ‘Oh, is there anything better than being a Gladiator?’ I just didn’t think about it.

“Suddenly the next day, and it was like, ‘Are you going to be on Celebrity Gladiators?’ I was like, ‘Oh no, I've really messed up here’. This is a PR disaster. Everyone's asking me about it.”

He also confessed. “I genuinely know some of the Gladiators and used to train with them. I've known them for a while and it's the dream job for them. They've done it so well and Bradley [Walsh] is brilliant.”

The first series of the rebooted Gladiators was hosted by Bradley and Barney Walsh, and introduced 16 new superhuman Gladiators: Sabre, Legend, Nitro, Diamond, Phantom, Athena, Bionic, Fire, Giant, Dynamite, Viper, Electro, Apollo, Comet, Steel and Fury.

At this stage no air date for Celebrity Gladiators has been announced.