GLADIATORS crowned the first winners of its newly-rebooted series in a nail biting final tonight.
The dramatic climax to the BBC One smash hit saw Finlay Anderson, Wesley Male, Bronte Jones and Marie-Louise Nicholson duke it out to be the male and female champions after eleven gruelling weeks.
In the end, it was Marie-Louise who was named the female winner, while Finlay took it for the men.
"We're both winners in my eyes" said Marie-Louise as she held the trophy aloft.
"Wow this is definitely the most surreal moment, from five year old me playing The Eliminator in my granny's front room to this," said Finlay in the moments after his big win.
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The men entered The Eliminator with the same amount of points, making it a neck and neck start.
But Finlay nudged ahead on the net, while Wesley slipped at the last moment, falling off the beam as his hamstring played up.
Army officer Finlay almost didn't make the final after losing out to fellow finalist Wesley in the heat.
But Finlay was the fastest runner-up, seeing him given a second chance to come back. And after winning his quarter and semi final, he faced Wesley one more time in the final.
The first event of the final was gauntlet, which saw all four contenders get the maximum ten points, sending the final off to a flying start.
Next up was Duel, where personal trainer Marie-Louise faced Dynamite and was knocked off her podium after 15 seconds, scoring no points.
Firefigher Bronte faced Fire, who got a formal warning for making hand contact with the contender.
But Fire got her revenge as she knocked Bronte over, sending her into the next event without an extra points.
When it was the men's turn, Wesley took on Bionic in the Duel, with the strapping 6ft 6in Gladiator making mincemeat of him.
And in the last Duel of the series, Finlay took on Giant, who sent him flying after just six seconds and with no points banked.
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The third event was The Edge, where the finalists were suspended 80 feet in the air.
Marie-Louise was put up against Diamond, where she made a strong start and scored eight points off the bat, but Diamond got her in the end.
"I don't need to do that ever again, thank God!" said Marie-Louise after crashing down to earth.
Bronte later faced Fury in the sky-high event, and she fared worse. Bronte was taken down within seconds before she even managed to score a point.
"I'm gutted with myself but never mind," shrugged the firefighter.
As for the boys, Wesley scored two points against Apollo and Finlay nabbed four against Legend.
The Wall was the fourth event, where both Bronte and Marie-Louise came away empty-handed after being pulled from the towering installation.
And the lads had no better luck, both coming away from The Wall without any points too.
The final event before The Eliminator was Collision, where Marie-Louise scored two points in her first time playing this particular game.
Bronte followed her, taking home a more impressive six points after her last basket was discounted.
Wesley was first to take on Collision for the boys, scoring two points, while Finlay got nothing after falling off within seconds.
The grand final came as the BBC made a major announcement this week, revealing that the hit show has been renewed for a second series.
The next run will film this summer in Sheffield, and will air early next year.
