Gladiators reboot lands two female stars in hospital with injuries suffered during filming

New Gladiators Comet and Sabre have revealed they suffered severe injuries during filming for the new reboot.

The BBC has brought back the 90s sport show, due to air in late 2023 or early 2024, and two of the new Gladiators are already out of action and facing lengthy rehabilitation.

Ella-Mae Rayner, aka Comet, shared pictures on Instagram of herself in a hospital bed and wheelchair, revealing she had injured her right foot, breaking her ankle and foot in multiple places.

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The former elite gymnast and fitness coach said: "During the filming of one of the games I sustained a severe foot injury. Multiple scans and X-rays later I found out that I had broken my ankle and foot in multiple places, including the talus and something known as a lisfranc injury, ruptured 3 ligaments and dislocated a bone. If you’re gonna do it, do it properly right.

"As I write this, I am now resting up following an operation to fix my foot and stabilise the broken bones. I know that the road ahead for recovery is long but my spirits remain high and I still had the time of my life whilst filming Gladiators.

"All I know is that I’ve bounced back from injury before, and I’ll do it again. I will be documenting the entirety of my recovery across my socials including how I am going to go about adapting life to give me the speediest return possible.

"This is just a minor blip in the road and ignites the fire in me to come back better and stronger than ever before."

Sheli McCoy, aka Sabre, revealed she is on crutches after tearing her hamstring.

She shared on Instagram: "Whilst filming for Gladiators I incurred a little battle injury - a hamstring tear.

"Up to that point, every single day was a blessing and every event an unforgettable experience that I would repeat in a second. I’m so thankful for such a phenomenal opportunity and I gave my absolute everything in each event to do justice to such an honour and privilege.

"The rehabilitation process is underway and going very well to date, with a lot of continued guidance from our fantastic physio Alfie."

The weightlifting champion and gym owner added: "I have to thank the medical staff and production team appointed to the gladiators as they assessed, monitored and cared for me relentlessly post injury and to date!

"Sabre will be on cage rest for a few weeks so brace yourself when she’s allowed back out."

The 11-part series has begun filming in front of a live audience at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena.

The BBC said in a statement: "The health and well-being of all Gladiators, contenders and crew is of paramount importance. Gladiators is one of the toughest and most physically demanding programmes on TV and due to the high-impact nature of the show it is not unusual for those competing to suffer injuries.

"In each instance, as soon as it became apparent that a potential injury had occurred, the correct protocol was immediately followed.

"The injured Gladiators are currently following medical advice and working on their recoveries."

The original Gladiators, filmed at the Birmingham NEC, was hosted by Ulrika Jonsson and footballer John Fashanu.

The Saturday night sports entertainment show aired on ITV from 1992 to 2000 and featured members of the public taking on the Gladiators in a series of fitness challenges.

It was briefly resurrected between 2008 and 2009.

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The BBC reboot welcomes a whole new generation of Gladiators and Bradley Walsh will host the show with his son Barney.

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