Gladiators viewers were left fuming after one injured contestant was replaced by a substitute for Saturday’s quarter-final.
Host Bradley Walsh revealed the news at the start of the show as he welcomed back Finley who had been forced to pull out after injuring himself during his earlier stint on the show and was now using a leg brace.
Amateur wrester and substitute Wesley was then introduced for the first time, with furious fans claiming another contestant should have been brought back instead.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, one wrote: ‘Bringing Wesley instead of a fastest previous contender is pure shenanigans’.
While a second fumed: ‘ Who tf is Wesley???’.
Gladiators viewers were left fuming after one injured contestant was replaced by a substitute for Saturday’s quarter-final (Substitute Wesley pictured)
Host Bradley Walsh (L) revealed the news at the start of the show as he welcomed back Finley (R) who had been forced to pull out after injuring himself during his earlier stint on the show and was now using a leg brace
Someone else said: ‘yeah it doesn’t sit right that someone who wasn’t in the heats gets to compete in the quarter finals. Second fastest runner up should have been next’.
And: ‘Wait? What? Wesley hasn’t actually been a contender in the series and he’s the replacement?’.
It comes after one contestant admitted they felt like ‘they’d been in a car crash’ following last week’s show.
The BBC reboot has left contenders gushing over the stars, despite an intense clash in The Ring, with contestant Betti Worth taking on rival Fury, real name Jodie Ounsley, during the first challenge.
The 11-episode series sees a new generation of Gladiators pit themselves against the public – from an elite CrossFit athlete from Manchester to a James Bond actor and two Olympians.
Each episode sees the Gladiators take on contenders in new and old games, ending with the iconic challenge, The Eliminator.
After a series of brutal thrashings and tackles from the professional rugby player, Betti, 31, revealed to Barney Walsh on Saturday that Fury was an absolute machine and she felt like she had been in a car crash.
‘She is an absolute machine. I’ve had some hard tackles in football, where I’ve been rammed into fences, and it felt like a fence… and a car crash,’ she said.
Amateur wrester and substitute Wesley (R) was then introduced for the first time, with furious fans claiming another contestant should have been brought back instead
Taking to X, formerly Twitter , one wrote: ‘Bringing Wesley instead of a fastest previous contender is pure shenanigans’
And gym-owner Betti was not the only left impressed by the new star as Irish contestant Tuathlaith Murtagh admitted there was no way to get away from another brutal fighter, Diamond.
The 29-year-old said: ‘It was good, she’s strong! I tried to get round her, but when she caught you, there was no getting away from her.’
Fans fled to X, previously known as Twitter, to heavily gush over glitzy the Gladiators, with many calling Fury and Diamond ‘gorgeous’.
One fan joked: ‘How much does one have to pay to be carried around by Diamond? Asking for a me.’
‘This but to get rugby tackled by Fury.’
‘I think Fury might be my favourite!’
‘Diamond is stunning. My favourite female Gladiator.’