'Ninja Warrior UK' returns after three years off air as Chris Kamara says 'I'm so excited'

Ninja Warrior UK is set to return to Saturday evenings on ITV after a three-year break.

The tough challenge show is popular family viewing but had been cancelled after five hit series, so the news of its comeback will be a welcome surprise to fans.

Read more: The Games returns - here's who's taking part

Hosts Rochelle Humes, Ben Shephard and Chris Kamara will all return, too, with sports reporter Kamara sharing his joy at the news on Good Morning Britain on Friday.

Kamara said: "It’s incredible. I’m so excited. We thought it was finished, it wasn’t coming back, but have faith. After five years, we thought we would go forever, but then it stopped – but now we’re back!"

Ninja Warrior UK ran for five series from 2015 to 2019, but in August 2020 it was revealed that the show had ended and ITV had no plans for a new series.

The comeback contest is set to begin filming later this year on the near-impossible assault course that has only ever been fully completed by one UK contestant.

Read more: Who's taking part in Holly Willoughby's Freeze the Fear?

Viewers will see a shake-up to the format when the sixth series launches, as it will now include two champions - one male and one female.

Look out for a new competition element, too, as the contest will take inspiration from production company Potato's other big hit The Chase by introducing a pro team.

Previous series have only seen ordinary people take on the assault course, but in the new revamp they'll go up against a team on Ninjas, who are professional warrior athletes.

Katie Rawcliffe, ITV’s Head of Entertainment Commissioning, said the show will be "all new, enhanced and reinvigorated, containing all the electricity, excitement and entertainment needed to make compulsive Saturday night viewing."

In his Good Morning Britain appearance, Kamara also discussed his recent diagnosis of speech apraxia which is a disorder affecting what his brain wants to say being translated into speech.

He said: "It’s quite incredible really. Singing is not a problem, you can sing along all day long at the normal pace of the song. but talking, when the apraxia hits in, makes it really difficult.

"I'm not after sympathy, there’s so many people out there worse off than me, but I have come out and said it now. It’s there, and hopefully people will understand why I sound a little bit not like myself."

Watch: Dancing On Ice screaming fan catches viewers' attention