Gladiators stars Finlay Anderson and Marie-Louise Nicholson have been crowned champions of the first series of the BBC reboot after a nail-biting final showdown.
And Dublin-born Marie-Louise teased she could become a Gladiator on a future series. She told hosts Bradley Walsh and Barney that her Gladiator name would be “Shamrock” were she ever to bag a full-time role on the show.
Eleven weeks of challenges reached its climax on Saturday evening (March 30) as Anderson saw off the threat of Wesley Male and Nicholson overcame Bronte Jones. Personal trainer Nicholson entered The Eliminator with a two-second head start on firefighter Jones and emerged victorious.
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Humble in victory, the 28-year old told presenter Bradley Walsh afterwards: “Bronte was on my tail the whole time, what a competitor to go up against, she was so close to the end there. I think we’re both winners in my eyes.”
Army officer Anderson, meanwhile, took on wrestler Male in the final event, reaching the travelator summit first to burst through the paper and become champion. The 34-year old proudly gushed to Brad: “This is definitely the most surreal moment ever from five-year-old me playing The Eliminator in my granny’s living room to lifting the real deal, this is unbelievable.”
The Edinburgh native said the most challenging moment of the tense finale came on The Edge, which saw him injure his ribs “quite badly” in the quarter-finals. “Naturally I was cautious as I didn’t want to get hurt again,” he explained.
Nicholson went on to reveal that her favourite moment from the series was her win in what was dubbed the “biggest comeback of the year”. It saw her reach the final four, despite starting a huge nine seconds behind on The Eliminator at the quarter-finals stage.
She added that she most enjoyed the Powerball game due to the “agility and speed” required whilst “being tackled by a Gladiator and having a bit of rough and tumble”.
She continued: “Winning means to me that things that you’re scared of in life, things you don’t want to go up against, if you throw yourself into it you’ll either learn something if you lose or you’ll gain something from it if you win. I always think that, even if you lose you’ll gain something from it.”
Earlier this week the Beeb confirmed it had commissioned a second Gladiators series, with head of entertainment Kalpna Patel-Knight revealing: “It has been wonderful to hear how much families have loved watching this together, as part of the BBC’s Saturday evening entertainment offering. We can’t wait for more action from the Gladiators.”
The return of Bradley and his co-presenter son Barney to present the series is yet to be announced, however.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
