GLADIATORS is one of the most eagerly anticipated TV comebacks – and the BBC has some equally high-profile presenters ready.
I can reveal producers are poised to sign up The Chase star Bradley Walsh to front the reboot of the Saturday night favourite.
And the actor and quizmaster will be paired with his son Barney when the show returns next year.
A TV insider said: “The BBC love the idea of having a unique duo fronting Gladiators and that’s what hiring a father and son gives them.
“It’s certainly a break from the presenters the show had previously.
“They already know they have a great dynamic, thanks to appearing together on their travelogue, Breaking Dad, as well as drama, The Larkins.
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“They also realise getting Brad to front the show with Barney is a bit of a coup because he’s already one of the busiest men on telly.”
The original Gladiators, which ran on ITV from 1992 to 1996 and 1999 to 2000, was hosted by John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson.
There was also a revival on Sky with Ian Wright presenting alongside Kirsty Gallacher, but it only ran from 2008 and 2009.
It was confirmed earlier this year that the BBC, who declined to comment on the new presenters, were rebooting it for a third time, and the news received a rapturous response from fans who were hooked first time round.
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Since then, speculation has grown about who would host it, with Holly Willoughby believed to be one of the early front-runners.
The This Morning presenter’s husband, Dan Baldwin, is boss of Hungry Bear, the company producing the show for the Beeb.
And she often features on his programmes.
Wonder if she’s been given the Brad news yet . . .
Bizbit
PEAKY Blinders creator STEVEN KNIGHT says the sixth series might not be the last after all.
Speaking yesterday, he said: “It would be me launching possible new stories in the Fifties then I’d hand over the baton of writing to other people, but if there’s an appetite for the world, it will continue."
Bizbit
SKY has signed up movie hardman TOM HARDY to narrate its new nature series.
The Taboo actor’s gravelly tones will accompany Predators, a co-production between Sky and Netflix, which focuses on five animals facing the ultimate test of survival.
It will be available from this December.
WHODUCKIT?
TOPPING the bill on new BBC Three comedy thriller Wreck is a killer duck – or at least a murderer inside a duck suit.
The six-parter, which starts on October 9, features plenty of gore thanks to the giant bird who goes around stabbing people to death on board a cruise ship.
Most of the victims on the MS Sacramentum seem to be the staff who don’t realise they’re being picked off because they’re too busy drinking, partying and bedding one another.
This includes hunky Louis Boyer, as ship officer Sam, who’s currently rocking the boat with one of the entertainers, Sophia, played by Alice Nokes.
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Feathers only get ruffled when Jamie, played by Oscar Kennedy, arrives pretending to be a member of staff so he can find out what happened to his sister who mysteriously disappeared weeks earlier.
It’s brilliant, but quackers.
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