Gladiators legend Jet makes poignant show admission as original stars snubbed

31 January 2024 , 21:35

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Jet wishes the old crew had been invited onto the new series of Gladiators (Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Gladiators legend Jet says the hit TV reboot has snubbed past stars by not inviting them back.

The iconic game show, aired on ITV from 1992 to 2000, has returned to BBC1 with Saturday night viewing topping eight million.

Despite loving the new show, Jet said: “It would have been nice for there to have been a nod to each and every one of the originals to be guests or do commentary or punditry. We all still have so much to give in our experiences. It’s not bitter chips, but maybe it is!”

Jet, real name Diane Youdale, earned a legion of fans thanks to her gymnastic skills and dominance of the ring game Hang Tough. Diane, 53, admits part of her didn’t want the show and its stars such as Giant, Nitro, Diamond, Viper to be as good as the original.

But she says it has proved to be just what Saturday night TV has been crying out for. Speaking on GladPod: The Gladiators Podcast, she said: “There was a part of me going, ‘Don’t be as good, don’t be even better, please.’ Everyone had been saying ‘It won’t be as good.’ It was and then some.

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“I had this experience for the first time of being someone in their living room getting behind these Gladiators. It’s true to the original, like, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, and that’s exactly what we’ve got.”

This week Gladiators was confirmed as the biggest launch of a new Entertainment series for seven years. Some 8.7 million watched the first episode with a new line-up of Gladiators taking on contenders in the ultimate test of speed and strength.

The 11-part series hosted by Bradley and Barney Walsh seems here to stay. Kalpna Patel-Knight, BBC head of entertainment, says: ­“Gladiators has taken the nation by storm with viewing figures showing Saturday nights in are back on BBC1.”

The next episode airs on Saturday at 7.10pm on BBC1 following the Six Nations Rugby between Wales and Scotland.

Mark Jefferies