The winners of Gladiators: Celebrity Special have been crowned after tackling a series of gruelling physical challenges on New Year’s Day.
Comedians Joel Dommett, 39, and Ellie Taylor, 41, have won the BBC spin-off after beating off competition from Rob Beckett, 39, and former BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin, 56.
Upon winning, Ellie told co-host Bradley Walsh: ‘I can’t believe I’ve just done that.’
‘I’ve had such a wonderful time with Louise, it’s been brilliant, I’m really proud of myself’, the Ted Lasso actor added.
At the beginning of the show, Ellie, who gave birth to her second child in November 2023, said she wanted to show mothers with babies that ‘we can do hard things’.
Speaking to co-host Barney Walsh after his win Joel said: ‘It was so tough, I knew Rob was there the entire time.
‘We’ve been so scared all day of that cargo net we’re both absolutely petrified of heights, the fact that I did that, I just feel like we’ve overcome something really amazing.’
The Masked Singer host continued: ‘I’ve dreamed of going up that travelator since I was about nine years old and hearing the crowd roar and going up that travelator, it’s like genuinely a dream come true. So thank you so much for having me, it’s been a pleasure.’
The first challenge was Collision which involved the contestants traversing a bridge while holding a ball as the Gladiators swung toward them from trapeze bars.
They were then tasked with knocking their opponent off a podium using a two-metre long stick in challenge Duel before they attempted to clear five zones protected by gladiators in Gauntlet.
The penultimate challenge saw the contenders take on Powerball, where they were given one minute to put as many balls as possible in a series of pods while the gladiators tried to take them down.
The final round was the Eliminate challenge, which was comprised of a variety of obstacles including a cargo net, balance beam, zipwire and travelator.
Earlier this year the BBC rebooted beloved series Gladiators, which initially aired from 1992 until 2000.
The sports entertainment game show sees four contestants split into pairs and compete in a series of physically challenging events against the show’s resident ‘Gladiators’, a group of elite athletes.
Presented by Bradley and his son, Barney, the new series became one of the most successful family entertainment launches for the BBC in seven years, attracting over six million viewers during its premiere episode.
The Gladiators: Celebrity Special is available on BBC iPlayer.
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