At the end of summer, the production of Gladiators arranged to meet us in Cergy, in the Paris region, and more precisely at the Aren’Ice, a 60m by 30m ice rink, for the filming of his new show. This cult program in the United States since its launch in 1989, arrives in France this Friday December 27, 2024, on TF1. Barely arrived, we discovered a large barnum, with tests at the Ninja Warriors and an excited audience. In the corridors, we also come across highly trained athletes, ready to play their role to the fullest.. They are the gladiators and their goal is to prevent the challengers from succeeding in their tests combining agility, endurance and speed, by putting a spoke in their wheels.
Gladiators : the lining of Dwayne Johnson among the candidates!
There are sixteen of them, eight men and eight women, with impressive physiques and superhero names. We notably note Abysse, French CrossFit champion, or Goliath, the physical double who was used in the casting of the statue of Dwayne Johnson for the Grévin museum and who measures 1.97 m and weighs 130 kilos! Titanium, Phoenix, Electra, Fierce, Comet and the others all have tailor-made costumes. The challengers, for their part, are anonymous people (SNCF agent, firefighter, doctor, etc.) with more ordinary physiques, determined to defeat these muscular gladiators.
Gladiators : here is what awaits you in the new TF1 entertainment presented by Jean-Pierre Foucault, Hélène Mannarino and Denis Brogniart
“We are in a real sporting competition but there is a very humorous tone”underlines Matthieu Grelier, producer of the show at ITV. Indeed, the program is intended to be very family-friendly and that is also why three presenters from different generations will take the lead. Jean-Pierre Foucault and Hélène Mannarino will be in the arena to collect the players’ impressions while Denis Brogniart will have the role of commentator from his cabin and he is the one who will explain the rules of each game. At the Aren’Ice, at the end of summer, let’s go for the Powerball event: the challengers must put balls in baskets scattered around the four corners of the arena but be careful, the gladiators are determined to prevent them from doing so. More impressive, we also remember Chase where the candidates must climb a climbing wall without being caught by their opponents!
Gladiators (TF1): a former regional Miss among the show’s referees
In total, the 1800 m2 of the ice rink accommodates 35 tonnes of equipment and eleven different games (ten events and the “eliminator”, a sort of obstacle course which will allow the challengers to be decided), filmed by 21 cameras. “We had all the games built ourselves, everything was done for France”specifies the producer. To remain anchored in the sporting competition, the production called on three professional referees, including Virginie Guillin, elected Miss Midi-Pyrénées 2016. In each episode, four men and four women compete, and one male and one female challenger advance to the final stages. At the end of the final phases broadcast in a few weeks, the winning challengers, a man and a woman, will share the sum of €50,000.
