Gladiators explain what makes Sheffield a 'special place' as fans queue to meet BBC show's stars at Meadowhall

Steel, Comet and Dynamite visited the shopping centre to meet the public after filming at Utilita Sheffield Arena for the second series of the game show’s popular reboot, including a celebrity special, wrapped.

As well as meeting their heroes, shoppers were able to test their skills by picking up a pugel stick and going head to head in the Duel challenge, which is one of the programme’s most popular contests.

After meeting viewers on The Avenue, outside Clubhouse, on Saturday, August 24, the Gladiators described how they had loved being back in Sheffield to film the new series.

Steel said: “As the man of steel, it was amazing to be back in the city of steel! Sheffield is the home of Gladiators! It was good to see how our fans do on our portable version of Duel and to get to meet them in person.”

Comet remarked: “We lit up Meadowhall Shopping Centre! Sheffield is such a special place to the Gladiators, it’s where our journey started, and we will always be grateful to the people of Sheffield for making us feel so welcome. It was fantastic to meet our fans there.”

Dynamite said: “Sheffield feels like a second home to the whole Gladiator family, so it was great to be back and meeting so many of you. I brought my explosive energy to Meadowhall Shopping Centre… and so did the fans.”

The new series of the BBC show, which will again be hosted by Bradley Walsh and his son Barney, and will see the much-loved new team of Gladiators tackle contenders on a mixture of new and familiar challenges, is expected to hit TV screens early in 2025. The first series is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.