Gladiators' Diamond fires back at claims stars 'go easy' on contestants

10 February 2024 , 21:25

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Gladiators' Diamond has fired back at viewers complaints (Image: BBC / Guy Levy)

Gladiators star Diamond has hit back at claims the cast goes easy on the show's contestants.

The hit programme has made a return to screens after being a huge hit in the 90s. However, some viewers have hit out at the new show as it was revamped on BBC One with Bradley and Barney Walsh as hosts. There have been complaints some moments of the programme are scripted and the Gladiators are not as fierce as the originals.

Diamond, real name Livi Sheldon, appeared on The One Show where host Alex Hones asked: "You know before you film, do you get to practice on the course? Because the contenders obviously do. Do you get to practice and do you go hard or do you hold back a little bit?"

Diamond hit back at the claims Gladiators go easy on the contestants (BBC)

The Gladiator revealed: "We haven't got to do the eliminator but we have got to practice against each other. We go 50%, we save the 100% for the contenders." During Saturday's show, one contestant was left apologising to host Bradley Walsh for taking the mick out of his joke.

One of the contenders included Betti from Bolton, who faced off against Irish contestant Tuathlaith. However, during the Wall challenge, Betti was grabbed by Diamond and fell off the wall. After the task host Bradley had a chat with both Tuathlaith and Betti. Bradley told Betti: "Betti, a slip in the very first seconds of that." She replied: "Yes I slipped, it is what it is. Move forward."

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Bradley quipped: "Or move upwards." Betti then took the mick out of Bradley's joke as she said: "Move upwards," while winking. Bradley fumed: "So unnecessary Betti." The contestant replied: "Sorry, it was so disrespectful," as Bradley told her: "Don't worry about it everyone is disrespectful to me. Betti, you don't score but at least you get to take the mickey out of me."

Earlier in the show Betti was full of praise for Fury after their intense clash in The Ring. After a series of fierce tackles from professional rugby player Fury, Betti admitted to host Barney Walsh: "She is an absolute machine. I've had some hard tackles in football, where I've been rammed into fences, and it felt like a fence... and a car crash."

Meanwhile, Irish contestant Tuathlaith, who faced off against Diamond, said: "It was good, she's strong! I tried to get round her, but when she caught you, there was no getting away from her." Fans on X previously known as Twitter were full of admiration for the Gladiators, with many calling Fury and Diamond "gorgeous".

Diamond recently opened up online about how training had changed her life. "When I first started training it was initially ‘to lose weight’ but later as I got more consistent I realised how much it was changing my body shape and I loved it," she wrote on Instagram. "The training was never the problem for me, I could train all day long, push myself, and never miss a session. It was the diet."

Mia O'Hare