GLADIATORS READY!

Those words in the booming Scottish tones of referee John Anderson would echo throughout countless living rooms across the country during the 1990s when the hit TV show Gladiators became essential Saturday teatime viewing.

For eight years, ITV’s Gladiators, which was hosted by Ulrika Jonsson and former footballer John Fashanu, became a staple of British television viewing right from its introduction on to our screens back in 1992.

Each week two male and two female contestants would battle against the Gladiators in a series of different physical challenges before the contestants faced each other in a head-to-head Eliminator at the end of the show.

Everyone had their favourite Gladiator. With their muscular physiques, immaculate hair and sparkly Lycra suits they became pin-ups to a younger generation of viewers, with the likes of Wolf, Lightning, Shadow and Jet becoming household names at the time.