Gladiators stars forced to pull out of BBC reboot after suffering horrific injuries and being rushed to hospital-Meghna Amin-Entertainment – Metro

Uh oh! (Picture: Instagram/@ellamaerayner/@cfsheli)

Two Gladiators stars have been forced to pull out of the BBC reboot after suffering from injuries which left one of them hospitalised.

Comet and Sabre were set to be joining the likes of Fury and Legend, as a brand new generation of superhuman Gladiators as they compete against a brave set of contenders in the ultimate test of speed, skill, stamina and strength.

After two decades off of our screens, Gladiators will be returning to BBC with father-son duo Barney Walsh and Bradley Walsh fronting the programme.

However, Comet, real name Ella-Mae Rayner, and Sabre, Sheli McCoy have had to pull out.

Former elite gymnast Comet shared a series of pictures from a hospital bed, which saw one of her feet wrapped up in a cast before she showed recovery in a boot and being showed in support by her Gladiators co-stars.

She wrote: “‘Life is not about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving’ Right now, this quote couldn’t ring truer. To put this into context, I just wanted to explain my current situation and reasoning behind my social media absence since filming for Gladiators came to an end.

‘During the filming of one of the games I sustained a severe foot injury. Multiple scans and X-rays later I found out that I had broken my ankle and foot in multiple places, including the talus and something known as a lisfranc injury, ruptured 3 ligaments and dislocated a bone. If you’re gonna do it, do it properly right 😅

Ella-Mae Rayner was hospitalised after a horrific injury left her with broken bones (Picture: Instagram/@ellamaerayner)

She was showered in support by her co-stars (Picture: Instagram/@ellamaerayner)

‘As I write this, I am now resting up following an operation to fix my foot and stabilise the broken bones. I know that the road ahead for recovery is long but my spirits remain high and I still had the time of my life whilst filming Gladiators.

‘All I know is that I’ve bounced back from injury before, and I’ll do it again. I will be documenting the entirety of my recovery across my socials including how I am going to go about adapting life to give me the speediest return possible.’

Ella-Mae continued:’ To my fellow Gladiators, family, and close friends. I am struggling to find the words to describe how grateful I am for you all. From the bottom of my heart, you could not have shown me greater compassion, love, and support throughout the show. You have all shown what it truly means to be a team.

She shared a series of pictures documenting her injury and hospital trip (Picture: Instagram/@ellamaerayner)

Ella-Mae Rayner is ready to ‘overcome the setbacks’ as she documents her recovery (Picture: Instagram/@ellamaerayner)

‘This is just a minor blip in the road and ignites the fire in me to come back better and stronger than ever before. For anyone going through something similar, you are not alone. Injuries are frustrating and often out of our control and actually the biggest battle is not the physical one but the mental one. Join me on the road to recovery and together we can and we will overcome the setbacks.’

Meanwhile, over on Sabre’s social media, she shared a picture in crutches with her leg bandaged up.

Sheli, who owns her own gym and trains for 16-19 hours each day, wrote: ‘Sometimes you are the hammer … sometimes you are the nail. Whilst filming for Gladiators I incurred a little battle injury – a hamstring tear.

‘Up to that point, every single day was a blessing and every event an unforgettable experience that I would repeat in a second. I’m so thankful for such a phenomenal opportunity and I gave my absolute everything in each event to do justice to such an honour and privilege.’

She added that her rehabilitation process is ‘underway and going very well’ with the help of her physio’s guidance.

Ella, playing as Comet, is ready to come back ‘stronger’ (Picture: BBC)

Sabre is Sheli McCoy, who suffered from a hamstring tear (Picture: BBC)

Sheli shared a picture in crutches (Picture: INSTAGRAM/@cfsheli)

Sheli continued: ‘I’m no stranger to rehabilitation practice, running my own sports injury clinic and specialising in athlete recovery strategy and so I’m confident that these next few months will offer me an opportunity to focus on areas of imbalance, enjoy alternative training methods and document a recovery process for others to learn and be motivated by.

‘I have to thank the medical staff and production team appointed to the gladiators as they assessed, monitored and cared for me relentlessly post injury and to date! SABRE will be on cage rest for a few weeks so brace yourself when she’s allowed back out 🐅🐾❤️‍🔥😏.’

A BBC spokesperson told Metro.co.uk: ‘The health and well-being of all Gladiators, contenders and crew is of paramount importance. Gladiators is one of the toughest and most physically demanding programmes on TV and due to the high-impact nature of the show it is not unusual for those competing to suffer injuries. In each instance, as soon as it became apparent that a potential injury had occurred, the correct protocol was immediately followed. The injured Gladiators are currently following medical advice and working on their recoveries.’

The show is no stranger to injuries! (Picture: BBC)

Gladiators are no strangers to injuries, with a former star of the American version recently recalling the horrifying injuries he sustained on the show, including suffering a concussion on his first day with his head split open.

The now-62-year-old took part in a ‘Human Cannonball’ on his first day, which involved a fellow participant called Tarzan swinging on a rope and colliding with him, with only a football blocking pad to help stop himself from being knocked down from a platform.

‘None of the producers or directors came up and talked to me about it. Nobody wanted to say what happened and it was like they wanted to sweep it under the rug,’ he claimed.

He added that his doctor allegedly urged him not to take part but he ‘begged’ to return.

Gladiators returns to BBC later this year.

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