Edinburgh soldier takes on the Gladiators in BBC One reboot and storms through to quarter-final

The latest episode of the popular show saw Edinburgh dad Finlay take on the Gladiators

A rugby-playing Edinburgh soldier took part in hit BBC show Gladiators on Saturday night – and the military worker secured a place in the quarter-final after a tense battle against the “superhuman” athletes.

The latest episode of the rebooted sports entertainment show saw four contenders take on the new line-up of gladiators – and after a series of challenges, Capital-born Finlay, 34, and Bronte, a 23-year-old firefighter from Sheffield, came out on top.

Finlay, who said he was “chasing a childhood dream” by competing on the show, was up against Ash, a sales lead for a soft drinks club in London who was inspired to take on the show after losing 10 kilograms last year.

Edinburgh soldier Finlay, left, took part in BBC show Gladiators on Saturday night – and he secured a place in the quarter-final. Photos: BBC

In the first event, titled Duel, saw the contenders attempt to survive for 30 seconds on a raised podium while they fought a gladiator with a pugil stick. Finlay went up against Giant in the challenge, but was knocked down in a matter of seconds.

Tensions then raised when gladiator Viper broke the rules when he went against 28-year-old Ash by starting to fight before the whistle had blown, causing the game to be restarted. After Viper was issued a formal warning that he would be disqualified if he did it again, the match restarted and Viper was quickly knocked down by the contender.

The next challenge, dubbed The Ring, saw the contenders try to get past their gladiators in order to press a button in the centre of the ring as many times as possible. When the male contenders took on the challenge, Finlay and Ash secured four points each when taking on gladiators Apollo and Phantom respectively.

The third trial, The Edge, saw the contenders try to secure points by running from one side of a raised platform to the other without being thrown off by the gladiator. Ashley secured nine points, while Finlay topped the chart with 12 points.

Meanwhile, the challenge of The Gauntlet saw Finlay push past the line-up of gladiators to make it to the finish line, but Ash was held back – finishing with six points.

The final challenge of The Eliminator saw the contestants timed while they took on a series of obstacles. While Finlay only got to start one second before Ash, making ia close race between the two until Ash fell behind due to stumbling on the treacherous travelator, landing Finlay the quarter-final spot.

Hosting the 11-episode series revamp is Barney Walsh and his father, presenter of The Chase Bradley Walsh. The original American Gladiators series was broadcast in the US in 1989 and became so popular a UK version was made starting in 1992, presented by Ulrika Jonsson and footballer John Fashanu. Between 2008-2009, Gladiators was brought back for a short run on Sky.

Gladiators continues on BBC One.