‘We’re the Gladiators finalists – and we’ve got the battle scars to prove it’-Meghna Amin-Entertainment – Metro

Gladiators, ready! (Picture: BBC/Hungry Bear Media Ltd)

The Gladiators finalists have reflected on the gruelling but ‘surreal’ experience that has left them with a lifetime of memories and some scars too.

Joe Fishburn will be taking on Mus Dumbuya while Amanda Wah competes against Aneila Afsar to be crowned the next Gladiators champions.

And though it wasn’t an easy ride, from having to bulk up or lose weight for try outs, suffering injuries along the way, and recovering from the intense adrenaline, they’d all do it again in a heartbeat.

Ahead of the final airing tonight, the four athletes spoke to Metro about the once-in-a-lifetime challenge, and their inspirational achievements.

32-year-old youth worker Mus admitted the final airing was ‘nerve-racking’, while gym owner Amanda, 35, said her overriding feeling was ‘excitement’.

‘It’s a little bit sad that it’s almost coming to an end, because it’s been such a whirlwind of a journey.  I think we’d all say it was one of the best things we’ve ever done, and it’s crazy but sad that it’s going to almost be ending now,’ added 26-year-old supply teacher Aneila.

Joe Fishburn will be taking on Mus Dumbuya in the final tonight (Picture: BBC / Graeme Hunter / © Hungry Bear Media Ltd)

Mus admitted the final airing was ‘nerve-wracking’ (Picture: BBC/Hungry Bear Media Ltd/Graeme Hunter)

The four finalists all came to apply for Gladiators from very different backgrounds.

Mus was a fan of the original 90s series, but was unaware of its return to the BBC until his mum encouraged him to try out after seeing applications for this second season had opened, recalling he ‘just did it all there and then’.

After a first call from producers, which he thought was a ‘joke’, Mus said he didn’t even think about the aspect of being on TV, but was focused on the tryouts.

Amanda, meanwhile, applied after becoming ‘an armchair hero’ while watching the last series with her kids.After boasting ‘I could do that’ in front of them, she was held accountable by her family and friends.

Amanda applied to Gladiators after watching the last season with her children (Picture: BBC / Graeme Hunter / © Hungry Bear Media Ltd)

‘I put my application in and within a week or so I was at the tryouts, everything was super quick.

‘It felt like a bit of a whirlwind of, “What is happening?” and even getting to the tryouts was phenomenal.’

She recalled the ‘shock’ she felt after getting through as a contestant, adding: ‘I just sat there and thought, “Is this really happening?”’

Gymnastics coach Joe, 23, described the experience as ‘surreal’, revealing how a friend of his was actually a contender on the second season of the original programme in the 90s, and encouraged him to apply for the relaunch.

Joe previously applied to be a Gladiator (Picture: BBC / Graeme Hunter / © Hungry Bear Media Ltd)

‘The first time around, nothing came of it and I think I even put in an application as a Gladiator,’ he shared.

After finally being given a spot as a contender, he repeated how ‘surreal’ it felt, adding he was ‘super grateful’.

Aneila also shared her gratitude for the experience, adding: ‘It’s just been a dream and such a whirlwind.’

She’s made it to the final after replacing personal trainer Zavia Hill, and is making history in the process as the first Muslim woman on Gladiators.

Aneila is making history as the first Muslim female contender on the show (Picture: BBC/David MacCormack/Hungry Bear Media Ltd/PA Wire)

She replaces Zavia Hill, who had to drop out after an injury (Picture: BBC/Graeme Hunter/Hungry Bear Media Ltd/PA Wire)

Talking about the inspirational achievement, she told us: ‘I knew it would have a big, positive impact, but I think even I underestimated the impact it would have.

‘I’ve had so many amazing messages from mums saying their daughters who have never really shown much interest in sports now really want to do things like gymnastics or Taekwondo. They feel like they’ve got this newfound confidence seeing a visible female Muslim role model engaging in competitive sports on television.

‘And I’ve also had messages from women in their 40s saying if they’d seen this on the original Gladiators then maybe their whole relationship with fitness would have been different growing up.

‘So yeah, it’s been absolutely amazing and it’s something that I hope to continue doing as well.’

While the experience for them all has been surreal, it did come with its fair share of aches and pains.

The finalists have had their fair share of injuries (Picture: BBC / Graeme Hunter / © Hungry Bear Media Ltd)

Mus, having gone through a running phase for a year, realised he would need to bulk up and instantly started eating to try and get his body ready and ‘outperform’ the other athletes in the try outs.

Aneila went for a similar technique, ‘trying to consume a lot of good quality food and getting some more muscle mass,’ she explained, laughing: ‘Just so I didn’t die when they rugby tackled me!’

Gymnast Joe opted for the opposite, saying: ‘The first thing I was doing was the opposite of Mus and I stopped eating and dropped weight.

‘If you’re up against somebody like Mus and you’re 95kg trying to swing around, you’ve got no hope.’

‘There wasn’t really any preparing for it,’ Amanda added.

Mus has ‘battle scars’ from filming (Picture: BBC/Hungry Bear Media Ltd/Graeme Hunter)

Who will be crowned the champion tonight? (Picture: BBC / Graeme Hunter / © Hungry Bear Media Ltd)

‘The goal was not to get injured before you went on and that was my biggest focus – don’t do anything stupid that’s going to ruin this before you get there, just carry on as you are because whatever you’re doing has got you to that point, and just trust that you are as prepared for it as you are.’

Despite warning herself, she admitted there were, of course, plenty of injuries along the way.

‘I think that just becomes part and parcel of what you’re doing, it’s effectively a contact sport,’ Amanda said.

She added that everyone faced slight injuries here or there, but the adrenaline ‘gets you through anything’, before joking: ‘You became used to carrying a bag of ice around like a safety blanket!’

Aneila said she was willing to risk taking part even with an injury (Picture: BBC / Graeme Hunter / © Hungry Bear Media Ltd)

‘For us, the natural reaction is that when a challenge gets hard, you just lean into it.’

‘The injuries are expected with this kind of thing,’ Aneila continued. ‘Even if you got injured, you wouldn’t change anything for the opportunity and experience.

‘I sprained my ankle in the quarterfinals, but I remember saying that if I have to do the full thing on one leg, there’s no way I’m not going to do it!’

Joe stressed: ‘Their priority is health and safety, but our priority is wanting to do it until our legs give out, and if you get somebody really competitive, that’s probably an incredibly hard balance to create, because when that whistle goes, there’s no feeling like it.’

Gladiators has returned for a second season after the BBC revived it last year (Picture: BBC / Graeme Hunter / © Hungry Bear Media Ltd)

The finalists are all ready to return as Gladiators (Picture: BBC/Hungry Bear Media Ltd/Graeme Hunter)

Mus revealed he had some particular ‘battle scars’ leftover from his experience on the show, claiming he had one on his right butt-cheek and a few more on his legs after challenges involving ropes.

‘But I only became aware of it when I went for a shower after the event,’ he said.

Amanda also added: ‘I’ve got a pride of place scar on my back from a Gladiator, and that needs to never fade!’

Despite the risk of injuries, all four finalists confirmed their experience ‘exceeded expectations’.

Amanda revealed the experience ‘exceeded expectations’ (Picture: BBC / Graeme Hunter / © Hungry Bear Media Ltd)

Amanda continued: ‘You’ve seen it on TV but when you get there, the scale of everything, the production, how many people are involved in it, and it just works effortlessly.

‘For me it was like when you visit Vegas, you look at everything on pictures and it is nice and small, but you get there and you’re like, “Wow, this is massive,” and all of a sudden you’re now a part of it, they fit you in and made you feel like part of the team.

‘It blew my socks off consistently.’

Joe admitted feeling like a deer in the headlights before he could make the most of the experience.

‘You have to just enjoy it, because you don’t know what’s going to happen,’ he said.

Joe initially felt like a deer in the headlights (Picture: BBC / Graeme Hunter / © Hungry Bear Media Ltd)

Now, their experience follows them around in their day-to-day lives. They all work in some capacity with children, who are, of course, their biggest fans.

Joe said: ‘We all work with kids here, and I feel like we’ll continue to be in the epicentre of what the show is all about, and we’re at the full front – I certainly feel like I am – of the people that are being the most inspired by the show, whereas I felt like if I had an office job I’d feel like maybe I wasn’t reaping the rewards fully.’

‘I think we all underestimated the impact it would have with kids, coming out of the end of filming days, and there are tiny kids waiting at the gate for you to sign foam fingers,’ Amanda said. ‘That in itself makes you feel like, “Is this my life?”’

And though they’ve all returned to normality now, with the final airing tonight, the four finalists confirmed they’d return to the show as a Gladiator in a heartbeat.

‘It’s literally the best thing I’ve ever done and the most fun thing, I think the Gladiators have literally got our dream job,’ Aneila said.

Who won Gladiators 2024?

Finlay Anderson and Marie-Louise Nicholson were crowned Gladiators champions last year (Picture: BBC/James Stack/Hungry Bear Media Ltd/PA Wire)

Finlay Anderson and Marie-Louise Nicholson were crowned Gladiators champions after a tense final showdown in March last year.

The duo went up against finalists Wesley Male and Bronte Jones for one last time – but after 11 weeks of gruelling challenges, they were the ones who emerged victorious.

To reach the final, the contenders had to battle against the show’s 16 Gladiators in games testing strength, speed and dexterity that continue to be family favourites from previous versions of the programme.

The BBC revived Gladiators last year, with a new batch of athletes following in the footsteps of icons Wolf, Jet, Hunter and Lightening.

Originally running from 1992 to 2000, Gladiators was hosted by Ulrika Jonsson on ITV, and now sees father-son duo Bradley and Barney Walsh at the helm.

Gladiators: Grand Final airs tonight at 5.50pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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