Gladiators has returned to our screens after a couple of decades, earning millions of viewers when it airs on Saturday evenings.

The father and son duo of Bradley and Barney Walsh host the show where contenders attempt to best Gladiators in a number of challenges.

Football commentator Guy Mowbray describes the action and former referee Mark Clattenburg oversees the events.

On the original 1990s show, one of the gladiators in Wolf was known as the main 'villain' and a couple have tried to take up the mantle in the reboot.

One of those gladiators is Legend, who earned the ire of some audience members during the  most recent episode (Saturday, February 10).

Fans have mixed reaction to Legend's villain performance

Legend first saw boos aimed at him from the audience when he committed an illegal scissoring move on the Collision game which sees contenders attempting to cross a precarious suspension bridge, whilst taking balls from one side to the other to score points.

The twist is as they're making their way across this bridge, four powerful Gladiators will be swinging in from either side in a bid to take the contender out.

Legend got contender Dev in a scissor move with his legs which saw the referee step in and make the point be replayed,

In response, the Gladiator complained that he had a medical condition which meant his legs couldn't be fully closed.

Later on in The Edge game, Legend let contender Paul run across the narrow platform to get points a couple of times before taking it seriously and knocking him over the side.

Explaining his reasoning for this he said he did it to understand what it was like to be a normal person, as he didn't experience losing very often.

This saw plenty of people boo him once again.

Some people loved the pantomime villain role he was playing with one person posting on X, formerly known as Twitter: "I love Legend. Makes me laugh."

Another wrote: "I thought I’d love Viper as the new Wolf …but my surprise is that Legend is the modern Wolf and just a wonderful modern villain."

Meanwhile, one viewer posted: "Yes Legend..that's what we need! Not all this being nice and hugging each other."

Not everyone was so convinced though, with one sharing: "The acting is horrific. Looking at you Legend & Viper."

Another commented: "Legend is trying hard to be the next Wolf (and failing)."

Who are the new Gladiators?

There are 16 new Gladiators on the BBC reboot that contenders must deal with.

The new Gladiators are:

  • Apollo (Alex Gray)
  • Athena (Karenjeet Kaur Bains)
  • Bionic (Matty Campbell)
  • Comet (Ella-Mae Rayner)
  • Diamond (Livi Sheldon)
  • Dynamite (Emily Steel)
  • Electro (Jade Packer)
  • Fire (Montell Douglas)
  • Fury (Jodie Ounsley)
  • Giant (Jamie Christian Johal)

Recommended reading:

  • Legend (Matt Morsia)
  • Nitro (Harry Aikines-Aryeetey)
  • Phantom (Toby Olubi)
  • Sabre (Sheli McCo)
  • Steel (Zack George)
  • Viper (Quang Luong)

The three new referees for the series are Sonia Mkoloma, Lee Phillips and ex-Premier League football referee Mark Clattenburg.

Gladiators will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 5:50pm.