ambushed

Gladiators host Bradley Walsh left his son in hysterics when he was ambushed by a Gladiator live on air, who proved the presenter most definitely doesn’t have ‘nerves of steel’

Bradley Walsh screamed live on air during BBC’s Gladiators, forcing the game show to abruptly halt as he lost his cool thanks to an ambush. The Chase host was presenting the second semi-final of the endurance show with his son Barney when he was taken by complete surprise by Gladiator Fury.

Host Bradley had just been telling the audience how he has “nerves of steel”, when he was blindsided by the competitor. Bradley said: “This next event, our contenders need nerves of steel. Like me.”

Playing along in the scripted exchange, Barney exclaimed: “You, nerves of steel?” Bradley doubled down, saying: “I don’t get rattled by anything. Nothing phases me Barnes.”

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But immediately proving Bradley wrong, Gladiator Fury could be seen creeping up behind him, before bursting a balloon right next to him. Bradley screamed out in fear, before saying: “Next…” in a bid to compose himself while looking visibly shaken.

Barney and Fury both belly-laughed as they watched the usually calm TV star get himself together. “You didn’t tell me about that did you,” he laughed as he turned to the Gladiator – clearly still shaken but being a good sport about the prank.

Barney found the whole thing hilarious and couldn’t stop laughing as he attempted to bring the programme back to order. He continued: “Time for the next event,” before high-fiving the athlete.

Moving on from Bradley’s scare, the show cut to The Wall, which saw female semi-finalist and firefighter Millie take on the Gladiator Sabre. But unfortunately for Millie, she was unsuccessful, failing in just 20 seconds.

Emily was up next, as she went head-to-head with Comet, coming out on top as she won in 33 seconds. The same event saw the men both losing to the Gladiators – Shaun took on Hammer, and Josh was up against Nitro. Shaun lasted for 28 seconds, with Josh doing marginally better, coming in at 32 seconds.

Emily eventually emerged victorious overall, meaning she bagged a place in the final, which will air on Saturday, March 28. She will be joined by the first semi-finalist Naomi, with both women hoping to win the competition.

It comes after last week, Bradley was shocked again and the audience booed when he was sternly ordered to “be quiet” by the referee. The presenter was questioning the rules of one of the challenges on the BBC show, when ref Mark Clattenburg snapped: “Be quiet!” Unimpressed, the fans started booing as Mark wagged his finger at the TV star.

The clash took place during last Saturday’s semi-final (March 14), as contenders Mo and Finn went up against the Gladiators in a bid to secure a spot in the final of the current series. Mo was marked down for dropping a ball during the Collision game, telling Bradley afterwards that he thought he should have got the point anyway. “I think I got disqualified with one point. I should have been allowed that,” he said.

Turning to Mark, Bradley asked if he could clarify the situation, saying: “Please explain what’s going on there, please?” The ref replied: “You’ve dropped the ball on the bridge. That’s against the rules.”

Looking puzzled, Bradley wondered if there could be a loophole, asking: “There’s a case to be said that if you drop the ball and then you regain it and catch it? I mean, seriously.”

However, pointing his finger at him, the ref snapped: “Bradley, be quiet! The rules are the rules,” he went on as the crowd erupted into a chorus of loud boos. Smirking at the audience, Bradley muttered about Mark: “He’s got out of the wrong side of the bed today.”

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