Davina McCall is reportedly top of a wish-list to compete on the ‘Gladiators’ celebrity spin-off show.
Davina McCall is reportedly top of a wish-list to compete on the ‘Gladiators’ celebrity spin-off show
The show was rebooted by the BBC in January after a 24-year hiatus, and the network is now said to be looking into casting the fitness fanatic ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ presenter, 56, in an all-star version – with reality TV regulars Mark Wright, 37, and 35-year-old Spencer Matthews also apparently in the pipeline.
A TV source told The Sun newspaper: “The BBC want big name contestants with the kind of strength and agility needed to compete with the intimidating gang of gladiators.
“Davina is incredibly fit and already looks keen to be involved, even if she has only previously talked about lending her presenting skills.
“As for the blokes, the producers love the idea of getting the fellas in to see if their gym-honed muscles are just for show or if they’ve got genuine brawn.”
A celebrity spin-off of the show was announced last week by ‘Gladiators’ production company Hungry Bear Media.
Head of the firm Dan Baldwin told BBC Radio 4: “I can reveal we are going to do a celebrity special... I think Gladiators is here to stay. “I’m going to say, it’s here to stay.”
The rebooted BBC version of ‘Gladiators’ has been a huge success for the BBC, with viewing figures soaring above the network’s expectations.
Dan added: “We wanted it to be event television so we had to get an audience of 3,000 people every episode.
“The first episode we had almost 10,000 turn up. So at that point, we knew that we had something.
“The first episode got 6.4 million. Now it’s at 9.8 million, the first episode, because of catch-up (TV.) And we didn’t think this show would be something that people would catch up on.
“But so many people catch up on it and it’s gone from strength to strength and we’re really happy with how it’s gone.”
‘Gladiators’, presented by Bradley Walsh and his son Barney, was filmed at Sheffield Arena in front of a live studio audience, which Dan has said has been one of biggest factors in the show’s popularity.
He added: “I think audience is vital and they reflect what is happening.
“We wanted to have families in that audience with their sponge fingers and signs and they really got into the event of it.”
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