Rob Beckett, Louise Minchin, Joel Dommett and Ellie Taylor take on the Gladiators

BBC One is to air a one-off showbiz special with Gladiators: Celebrity Special coming to BBC One and iPlayer. The celebs taking on the Gladiators are stand-up comedian Rob Beckett, TV presenter and triathlete Louise Minchin, presenter and comedian Joel Dommett and Ted Lasso star Ellie Taylor. The fearless four will face the ultimate test of speed and strength up against the power of the Gladiators before going head-to-head in the iconic Eliminator.

The successful first series of the rebooted former ITV, and later Sky One, series hosted by Bradley and Barney Walsh saw 16 new superhuman Gladiators: Sabre, Legend, Nitro, Diamond, Phantom, Athena, Bionic, Fire, Giant, Dynamite, Viper, Electro, Apollo, Comet, Steel and Fury quickly become household names.

Viewers were gripped as they cheered on their favourites each week and the show quickly became the biggest entertainment launch for a new 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.

This celeb special follows the announcement of the second series of Beeb Gladiators that will run for eleven, hour-long, editions. The former ITV/Sky series now a BBC One hit is based on the original American Gladiators that was created by Johnny C. Ferraro and Dan Carr and developed by Johnny C. Ferraro.

In March this year, after ten gruelling weeks competing against the superhuman Gladiators, the final four contenders – Finlay Anderson, Wesley Male, Bronte Jones and Marie-Louise Nicholson – took to the arena to crown Gladiators champion 2024. In the end Finlay Anderson an Army Officer and Marie-Louise Nicholson a personal trainer took home the gongs. The Beeb version of the format is filmed at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield.

2024 winners: Finlay Anderson and Marie-Louise Nicholson with hosts Bradley and Barney Walsh