Bradley Walsh reveals brutal reason he almost turned down hosting Gladiators reboot alongside son Barney
BRADLEY WALSH had doubts before signing up to be the new host of Gladiators.
But it wasn’t the next generation of muscle-bound toughies who were scaring him, but working with his son Barney after five series of their travel show Breaking Dad.
The father and son duo have travelled across the world for the ITV show, even swinging across ravines and diving into oceans from clifftops.
But for the rebooted Gladiators, packed with knuckle-biting sporting challenges against super- human athletes, Bradley was keen to steer clear of any more stunts.
It meant that actor Barney, who stars in Casualty and makes his presenting debut with the BBC One show this weekend, was left pushing his dad to agree to take the job.
He revealed: “I did have to talk dad into doing this, because of what we’d done on Breaking Dad.”
But Bradley shot back: “I was just sick to death of getting thrown off buildings and things like that.”
The show, which hits our screens at 5.50pm on Saturday, is a revamp of the Nineties hit shown on ITV.
It is the first time Bradley and Barney have hosted a primetime show together, so naturally there were quite a few nerves when it came to filming all the arena action.
Barney said: “Walking out on that stage, it’s, ‘Please welcome Bradley and Barney Walsh’, and there are 3,000 people all cheering and screaming your name.
“Obviously there are nerves.
“But Dad has been doing this a long time, and he’s amazing at what he does.
“So luckily I’ve got him to look up to, not that he gave me too much advice on how to handle this.
“Nonetheless, it’s just been great bringing this show to a new audience and showcasing something spectacular — and of course, working with my dad on it all.”
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A MEMBER of the audience went into labour during recording of the show after watching the action staged at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena.
Barney revealed: “One lady gave birth . . . well, her waters broke during the filming.”
Bradley said with a laugh: “It always was a whole family affair
AN EXTRA EDGE TO GAMES
FROM Hang Tough and The Wall to the final Eliminator, Gladiators’ most famous games will be rebooted.
But three new events have also been thrown into the mix for the next generation.
The Edge is a one-on-one game of British Bulldog – but suspended 30ft in the air on a grid, where one wrong move will see challengers plummet.
In The Ring, contestants fight their way to the centre of a battleground to press a button to win points, while a pair of Gladiators stand in their way.
Collision invites them to cross a wobbly bridge to get a ball in the net and score points, while four Gladiators swing like human wrecking balls to knock them down.