As households across the UK ready themselves for the return of hit teatime gameshow Gladiators, former finalists Wesley Male and Bronte Jones say their appearance in the action-packed competition has been a life-changing experience.

When the opening bars of Gladiators’ hard rock theme tune herald the start of series two, you might forgive Wesley for being slightly fatigued.

“My mates still play the theme song whenever I walk into a room,” the 37-year-old, who combines his civil service job with professional wrestling at weekends, laughs.

“Do you know what? Sometimes it’s annoying, but then I always think back to the first time I heard it when I was on the show. I was only on as a back-up contestant at that point and it gave me goosebumps then.

“I remember thinking, ‘this is one of the best moments I’ll ever have’ – and that was before I was even a proper competitor.”

Promoted to the frontline after another contestant sustained an injury, Wesley, originally from Sheffield but now living near Huddersfield, stormed his way through the heats to reach the 2024 season final.

He said he hoped appearing on the show might lead to more opportunities on the wrestling circuit, but he was stunned by how quickly his diary filled.

“Those two or weeks afterwards I felt incredible and just on cloud nine.

“Before the show aired, I didn’t want to let the cat out the bag, but I emailed a couple of promoters saying I might be featuring on TV soon, if they wanted to book me in advance.

“There was barely any interest and then, as soon as it aired, everyone wanted to book me.

“I had two weekends off in the whole of last year – one because I was injured and the other for my brother’s 40th birthday.”

Bronte, who is 25 and from Sheffield, grew up a Gladiators superfan, despite being born shortly before the show’s original run on ITV came to an end in 2000.

“As kids, me and my sister would watch repeats of the 90s shows with our parents and then we’d go outside and recreate some of the games,” she said

“When they brought it back and said it was going to be filmed in Sheffield, it was like it was made for me.

“I’m not going to lie, I’m quite a competitive person. If I do something, I want to win.

“But if you’d said to me beforehand that I’d have made the final I’d never have expected it.”

Similarly to Wesley, Bronte, a firefighter with South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, has retained her day job.

But, outside of work, she continues to compete in physical challenges and finished third in the British Weightlifting Championships in December.

Both Bronte and Wesley describe the experience of being recognised out and about in public over the last year as surreal.

“Sheffield is amazing for the whole community vibe,” Bronte says.

“I’ll just be out in Meadowhall or Asda, and someone will come up to me and say ‘are you Bronte from Gladiators?’ It’s mad, I thought it would have stopped by now.”

Wesley, meanwhile, has attracted a nationwide band of young followers, many of whom ask him for his autograph after wrestling matches.

“I’m just shocked that anyone would be bothered about the contestants,” he admits.

“I thought they’d just be bothered about the Gladiators themselves.

“But I’ve had kids come up to me who want to get into wrestling and they all know my stats from the show – it’s mad.”

Both finalists have separately set up their own personal training and mentoring businesses, which they conduct outside of their day jobs.

While much of that is devoted to nutrition and exercise guidance, a significant chunk of it is building clients’ confidence and helping them with their mindset.

“The experience was eye opening for me and made me realise how much fitness has changed my life,” Wesley said. “I was just a shy kid from Sheffield who wouldn’t say boo to a ghost. Now here I am running round in Lycra and doing guest speaking.

“If I can get others out of their shell as well then that would be fantastic.”

Both said they would be avidly tuning into the second series, while Bronte, who went to watch new season being filmed last year, said being in the audience had been fascinating, as she got a whole new perspective on the show.

“It was very different and really good to see the other side of it,” she said.

“When you’re a competitor they only bring you out for your bit [of filming] so it was nice to be in the crowd and watching it all as the day unfolds.”

And her final words of advice for this year’s competitors?

“Enjoy it! Just go out and have a good time.”

The new series of Gladiators starts at 17:50 GMT on BBC One on Saturday.

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