Disabled woman's 'guaranteed' seat for wheelchair users at Gladiators cancelled after 140-mile trip
“I’ve looked online and we’re not the only ones”
A TV company filming BBC Gladiators in Sheffield cancelled a disabled woman’s “guaranteed” place in the audience after she drove four hours from Norfolk.
Becky and Dave Walton’s weekend in South Yorkshire was spoiled after travelling 140 miles for a recording of the hit show at the Utilita Arena on July 27, with seats arranged by ‘Applause Store.’
Audience seats are typically given out on a first-come first-served basis, but Becky was told her place was assured as a wheelchair user.
However, after driving four hours to Sheffield and paying for a hotel, the couple was told in an email the deal was off and they would not be seeing the show.
Husband Dave, 47, said: “Becky absolutely loves the show. I like it but she likes it even more.
“If something happened and everyone’s tickets were cancelled that’s different, but it’s specifically disabled people’s tickets that got scrapped.
“I’ve looked online and we’re not the only ones.”
Applause Store gives out free seats for TV episodes to customers who register online before inviting them to the screening.
But even then it is not guaranteed viewers will get in. Typically, Applause invites more people than there are seats to ensure there is a full audience, and customers get in on a first-come first-served basis.
However, Becky claims when she was invited her ticket said she had a “guaranteed” seat at the show as a wheelchair user.
But instead, while settling into their hotel in Rotherham, the couple received an email reading: “We write to inform you that, sadly, due to limited capacity inside the venue, we have had to cancel your tickets.
“Your ticket has been cancelled entirely at random to ensure the safety of everyone attending.
“After our first recording of the series started today, it became clear that this difficult decision needed to be made.”
Soon after, the Applause Store Facebook page made a celebratory post about the Gladiators taping that read: “Everyone gained entry - we love it when that happens.”
Dave commented: “And how many tickets did you cancel in advance to achieve this, or are you just being discriminative and just cancelling disabled people’s tickets?”
Dave claims the business deleted his comments and blocked him.
However, he found other upset users also claiming they had their “guaranteed” disabled tickets cancelled. When The Star went to read these other comments based on screenshots sent by Mr Walton, it appeared they had been deleted.
Applause Store did not reply to requests for comment.
Dave said: “It was very disappointing.
“This is the first trip Becky has been able to take in a year after an operation on her leg in 2025.
“We tried to make a weekend of it and have been exploring Sheffield and Rotherham. We went to the Video Game Museum and Meadowhall.”
Mr Walton was unable to provide the ticket showing they had “guaranteed” seats as they were inaccessible following the cancellation.