The article discusses the TV show "Gladiators," which features contestants competing against strong, agile competitors known as Gladiators. The show has been revived in recent years with a new generation of Gladiators, including Apollo, Dynamite, Cyclone, and Nitro. The article features interviews with the current cast members, who share their experiences and insights into the world of "Gladiators."The show's producers created the Gladiator characters, then cast them afterwards. Resident baddie Legend, AKA fitness influencer Matt Morsia, did not have to work hard to behave like an arrogant show-off. He vies with Viper – former model Quang Luong – as the reboot's Wolf. When I watched the show in Sheffield, little children screamed with equal terror and delight as Viper rampaged through the stands to rip up their posters.The modern-day Gladiators make most of their money now as social media influencers, but 22-year-old Dynamite – CrossFit and weightlifting champion Emily Steel – is hoping for at least a side hustle in music. Some of the original 90s Gladiators are still profiting from the show. Fabio, the Guardian photographer, tells me that this year alone he has done two shoots with Wolf for a German garage door company. Others have gone in an entirely different direction. Hunter is now a gong bath healer.It was the show's producers who came up with the Gladiator characters, then cast them afterwards. Resident baddie Legend, AKA fitness influencer Matt Morsia, did not have to work hard to behave like an arrogant show-off. He vies with Viper – former model Quang Luong – as the reboot's Wolf. When I watched the show in Sheffield, little children screamed with equal terror and delight as Viper rampaged through the stands to rip up their posters.The diversity of Gladiators is praised by Aneila Afsar, who was the first hijabi contestant. Athena, powerlifter Karenjeet Kaur Bains, is Sikh. Fury is deaf. Viper is Chinese. Sabre is Scottish. There is a Gladiator for everyone – apart from perhaps the Welsh. Families of every hue fill the stands. There's a timelessness to the spectacle. Mums shame themselves with lusty poster pitches ("You can spook me any time, Phantom!"), children rush to catch T-shirts shot into the audience with a cannon. If you're ever thinking of watching Gladiators being filmed, I must warn you that it is an 11-hour day. But what a day. They let you in with a picnic and they only close the bar before the Eliminator.Bringing intergenerational joy is the best, Apollo says. "The biggest pat on the back we get is when we meet families and they say, 'You've brought us back together … My kids didn't want to watch anything with us, they're stuck doing PlayStation or YouTube or whatever – this is the only thing they'll sit down and watch with us.'"