Winners of Gladiators: Celebrity Special crowned

By Hannah Roberts, PA Entertainment Reporter

Comedians Joel Dommett and Ellie Taylor have been crowned winners of the Gladiators celebrity special.

The pair beat off competition from TV presenter and comedian Rob Beckett and former BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin in the game that sees contenders take on resident gladiators in a series of physical challenges before facing obstacle course, the Eliminator.

Upon winning, Taylor told co-host Bradley Walsh: “I can’t believe I’ve just done that.”

“I’ve had such a wonderful time with Louise, it’s been brilliant, I’m really proud of myself”, she added.

At the beginning of the show, Taylor, 41, who gave birth to her second child in November 2023, said she wanted to show mothers with babies that “we can do hard things”.

Speaking to co-host Barney Walsh after his win, Dommett, 39, said: “It was so tough, I knew Rob was there the entire time.

“We’ve been so scared all day of that cargo net we’re both absolutely petrified of heights, the fact that I did that, I just feel like we’ve overcome something really amazing.”

He continued: “I’ve dreamed of going up that travelator since I was about nine years old and hearing the crowd roar and going up that travelator, it’s like genuinely a dream come true. So thank you so much for having me, it’s been a pleasure.”

The Eliminator challenge was comprised of a variety of obstacles including a cargo net, balance beam, zipwire and travelator.

The first challenge was Collision which involved the contestants traversing a bridge while holding a ball as the Gladiators swung toward them from trapeze bars.

They were then tasked with knocking their opponent off a podium using a two-metre long stick in challenge Duel before they attempted to clear five zones protected by gladiators in Gauntlet.

The penultimate challenge saw the contenders take on Powerball, where they were given one minute to put as many balls as possible in a series of pods while the gladiators tried to take them down.

Dommett went into the Eliminator with a half-a-second lead on Beckett after finishing Powerball one point ahead of him, while Minchin had a two-second head start on Taylor.

She struggled over the first hurdle, meaning Taylor was able to take advantage and swing through the paper to become a Gladiators celebrity champion.

The Gladiators: Celebrity Special is available on BBC iPlayer.