Gladiators (2024 Australian TV series)

Gladiators (also known as Gladiators Australia) is an Australian television series, which premiered on 15 January 2024 on Network 10. It is hosted by Beau Ryan and Liz Ellis. It is based on the earlier Australian iterations of the American version of the franchise. The first iteration being broadcast from 1995–1996 and a short-lived revival being the second in 2008.

The referee of the show is the former Australian Gladiator and rugby league player, Mark McGaw, also known as "Hammer". Casting for contenders for the first series began in August 2023 and the twelve "Gladiators" were announced on 26 September 2023. In May 2024, it was officially announced that Gladiators is being cancelled after only one season, that failed to find an audience.

Production

The second possible revival of the Australian version of Gladiators was rumoured to be produced soon after the second British revival was announced. Casting for contenders to compete against the Gladiators was announced in August, and it was revealed that the show would air in early 2024 on Network 10. Distribution rights are held by Amazon MGM Studios Distribution, with the show being executively produced by John C. Ferraro and Barry Poznick. The episodes were filmed at Disney Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales.

The series was initially announced as premiering on 7 January 2024, within the summer non-ratings period; however, one month prior to the premiere, it was postponed by a day. It was later announced that the series would instead premiere on 15 January 2024, to enable a wider audience to view the revival series.

Marketing

The series was announced to air in early 2024. It is sponsored by a wide range of companies, including QSR International and auto home delivery services, and will include "back-to-school" marketing. Similar to the original series, it is a comedic sports entertainment show with "cartoon-ish violence" for a family audience.

The first official teaser trailer for the series was released on 6 November 2023, featuring eight of the Gladiators of the show (females Arrow, Chaos, Comet, Halo, and males Cyclone, Phoenix, Spartan and Viking).

Format

The show involves permanent competitors known as "Gladiators" that compete against "Contenders" in several events made to test out both their physical and mental capabilities.

In each episode, two men and two women compete for points against the Gladiators across four different events, with separate events for males and females. After this, each pair then competes against each other in "The Eliminator", a grueling obstacle course, of which any points they have won previously go towards time for a head start on their opponent. The winner of this is dubbed the champion of the episode, and will advance to the Finals, in hope to be crowned as the overall champions.

The winners of the series had the opportunity to become a Gladiator in the next series of the show and face off against new contenders, though there was never going to be a second series.

Events

On the show, the Contenders will face the Gladiators in events testing their speed, strength, stamina, agility and power. The series sees the return of some classic events, with a few brand-new events. Each episode featured four events chosen at random, with every episode finishing with The Eliminator obstacle course.

In the first series, the following events were introduced in this order:

In the Heats, events Duel, Powerball, Pyramid and The Wall were played with a rotation.
In the Quarter-Finals, two new events, Tilt and Hang Tough were introduced.
In the Semi-Finals, new events Whiplash and The Edge premiered.

The Edge

The Edge is a brand new event in Gladiators Australia, in which the contender goes head-to-head against one gladiator in a criss-cross-shaped platform 5 metres above the arena floor. The contender must make it to the other side without being knocked off the Edge by the gladiator. Each cross is worth a point.

The game is based on the British event with the same name.

The Eliminator

The final Eliminator obstacle course includes 9 different obstacles:

Gladiators

The 12 Australian and New Zealander athletes, appearing as Gladiators, were announced on 26 September 2023.

However, in November 2023, it was revealed that a seventh male Gladiator would appear on the show. Named "Dragon", light heavyweight mixed martial artist Tyson Pedro was revealed. Black Ops—real name Bertrand Venail—was also revealed during the airing of the series – bringing the total to 14 Gladiators.

The grand prize for the winners of the season, Kalani Lenehan and Taylah Bisshopp, was the title of Gladiator.

Episodes

Notes

Episode summary

In the final eliminator round, each point is equal to 0.5 second head start for the winning contender.

Heat 1

Female

Male

The Eliminator

Winners: Makedonka and Jonny

Heat 2

Female

Male

The Eliminator

Winners: Taylah and Chris

Heat 3

Female

Male

The Eliminator

Winners: Tee and Danny

Heat 4

Female

Male

The Eliminator

Winners: Julia and Daine

Heat 5

Female

Male

The Eliminator

Winners: Sam and Kalani

Heat 6

Female

Male

The Eliminator

Winners: Janice and Jason

Quarter Final 1

Female

Male

The Eliminator

Winners: Tee and Chris

Quarter Final 2

Female

The Eliminator

Winners: Janice and Kalani

Quarter Final 3

Female

Male

The Eliminator

Winners: Taylah and Daine

Semi Final 1

Female

Male

The Eliminator

Winners: Taylah and Daine

Semi Final 2

Female

Male

The Eliminator

Winners: Janice and Kalani

Grand Final

Female

Male

The Eliminator

Winners: Taylah and Kalani

Contenders progress

Color key:

Series champions

Runners-up

The contender won the episode and advanced

The contender was medically withdrawn from the competition

The contender was a wildcard and qualified

The contender lost the episode and was eliminated

Reception

Critical reception

The return of Gladiators has received mixed–to–poor critique. The series received a lot of negative comments via social media, relating to the "poor set design", and the slow pacing. The lack of audience and variety of events were also denounced.

Ratings

Ratings data is from OzTAM and represents the top 20 viewership from the five largest Australian metropolitan centres (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth).

NR = Did not rank in Top 20

*From 28 September 2023, OzTAM ratings changed. The Grand Final ranked 21 on the Total TV Overnight Top 30 Programs with a reach of 697,000.