Gladiators' celebrity special winners revealed as Joel Dommett and Ellie Taylor

Gladiators' celebrity special winners revealed as Joel Dommett and Ellie Taylor (

Image: PA)

Comics Joel Dommett and Ellie Taylor have won in the Gladiators celebrity showdown.

Joel and Ellie beat rivals TV funnyman Rob Beckett and ex-BBC Breakfast host Louise Minchin in the game show which saw the resident gladiators in a series of physical challenges before facing obstacle course, the Eliminator. A thrilled Taylor gushed to co-host Bradley Walsh: "I can’t believe I’ve just done that."

She also shared her joy at setting an example, saying: “I’ve had such a wonderful time with Louise, it’s been brilliant, I’m really proud of myself”. At the show's kick-off, 41-year-old Taylor, fresh from welcoming a new baby in November 2023, said she aimed to inspire mums by proving “we can do hard things”.

A victorious Dommett expressed to co-presenter Barney Walsh: "It was so tough, I knew Rob was there the entire time." Noting their shared fear, he added: “We’ve been so scared all day of that cargo net we’re both absolutely petrified of heights, the fact that I did that, I just feel like we’ve overcome something really amazing. ”

Joel and Ellie beat rivals TV funny man Rob Beckett and ex-BBC Breakfast host Louise Minchin (

Image:

PA)

Elated over realising a childhood dream, he remarked: "I’ve dreamed of going up that travelator since I was about nine years old and hearing the crowd roar and going up that travelator, it’s like genuinely a dream come true. So thank you so much for having me, it’s been a pleasure."

The Eliminator challenge featured a gruelling array of obstacles including a tricky cargo net, balance beam, zip wire, and the infamous travelator. The first challenge, Collision, saw the contestants traverse a bridge while holding a ball as Gladiators swung towards them from trapeze bars. This was followed by Duel, where they had to knock their opponent off a podium using a two-metre long stick.

The Gauntlet then challenged them to clear five zones protected by gladiators. The penultimate challenge, Powerball, gave contenders one minute to put as many balls as possible in a series of pods while the gladiators tried to take them down. Dommett entered the final challenge, the Eliminator, with a half-a-second lead on Beckett after finishing Powerball one point ahead, while Minchin had a two-second head start on Taylor. However, she struggled over the first hurdle, allowing Taylor to seize the opportunity and swing through the paper to become a Gladiators celebrity champion.

Fans were obsessed with the effort the stars put in, with one user writing on X/Twitter: "Gotta say expected Joel to win by a larger margin. Shocked Rob was that close tbh," and another saying: "This #Gladiators Celebrity Special is brilliant."

One fan commented: "This celebrity gladiators is ace! Definitely need to do more of these!" and another posted: "This episode of Gladiators is brilliant. The bin. The bum slaps. The Rob v Legend banter. Brilliant."

The Gladiators: Celebrity Special is available on BBC iPlayer.

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