UK Gladiators - Series 5 1996 - North vs. South Final

[@leilaimanx8851]

Sarah absolutely kicked Lightning on Hang Tough. Disgraceful. So happy Laser got her back in the next event. Fantastic.

[@jacobburtonswfc]

Hang Tough was played after so it was probably Sarah getting her own back

[@Will-h7h]

Andreya my favourite female winner. Her and Paul Field are my favourite Gladiator Champions. Andreya also tied Eunice Huthart with 3 tournament wins, the most than any other UK Champion, winning Series 5 and Springbok Challenge 1 and 2. Eunice won Series 3, International Gladiators 1 and Battle of the Champions. Both only lost once with Eunice losing the Ashes 1 Final and Andreya losing the Series 8 Final.

[@danwelham]

Andreya deserves the win I met her mum an dad many times when I was younger really nice people run an amazing hotel memories I still think back and enjoy now congratulations on Andreyas achievement even though it was many many years ago now it’s fantastic to watch beck in here

[@MrMatthias]

27:00 That was absolutely a kick. Definitely a miss from the refs there I understand that the round of Duel was a lot less clear. Could go either way, but I would have given it to the contender. Mark's Eliminator run was BLINDINGLY fast! HOLY CRAP!! This season wasn't the best over all. It certainly had it's ups and downs. Some blown calls and some poor performances here and there, especially from the Gladiators early on, but it had some of the best eliminators in the series so far!

[@GladiatorsBoy]

The more I watch this the more I genuinely think JA really had a issue with Mark and didn’t even attempt to hide it. I thought a referee was supposed to be impartial. He was anything but when it came to Mr Motteram. I’m also so glad Andreya won. Sarah while no doubt a great athlete was so smug and over confident. Remember Sarah no matter how good you are there’s always someone better.

[@FleetAdmiral833]

Think Lazer was hell bent on revenge for Lightning. That smack to the face on the way down was retribution

[@Costas22]

The Men's competition was very stiff and it's the most evenly matched final I can remember. All in all, the team with the best coach won. Phil knew how to mentally prepare his contenders. I doubt if Sarah and Buster could even understand Eunice.

[@nicoladale1668]

Mark's Duel against Rhino reminded me of the Duel between Nightshade and Finnish contender Pirjo in International Gladiators.

[@roxannemaina4769]

I agree

[@garethwiseman4320]

So glad that Andreya wiped that smug look off Sarah's face.

[@thomaslincoln7850]

So glad Sarah lost to Andreya in the final. Terrible sportsperson who took almost as many shortcuts as Wolf did.

[@nicoladale1668]

I agree.

[@davidfearis7335]

Also Andreya was a better contender in the Springbok Challenge than Sarah was in the Ashes 2

[@adamjones7268]

I agree

[@Will-h7h]

@@davidfearis7335 Bit harsh Sarah got injured before she could do anything. Considering how close Michelle Kimberley got to beating Marissa, I think Sarah may have won the Ashes.

[@davidfearis7335]

@@Will-h7h If its the truth it is NOT harsh

[@acesfn7316]

I don't know why so many contenders in this season had a pro sports background. Made them less relatable to the viewers who would watch to see people from different walks of life take on a great challenge

[@alloh2021]

You could tell that Laser was extra motivated to beat Sarah on Duel. Never seen Laser so determined before. I like to think that she was out for revenge for Lightning on Hang Tough. The extra smack to the face by Laser's pugil stick on Sarah's way down was the icing on the cake 😂🖕

[@therebel4332]

This was Sarahs problem in this final, they were properly determined to stop her winning because she'd rubbed them up the wrong way throughout the series,, she lost by the smallest margin and had she had a bit more humility she'd have won in my opinion,, you don't wind up the opponent in a competition like this,, you could tell by powerball they were making sure Andreya had the lead in the eliminator. Andreya got 18 cheap points in the first 2 events, the skytrak was very iffy as well.

[@christianfrost8660]

@@therebel4332 If you ask me it is cheating to tank the events against one opponent because you don't particularly like the other one. Shame on Laser, Panther, Rebel & Rio. But good on Vogue showing some professionalism.

[@johnj7269]

@@christianfrost8660 Well can't say it wasn't unwarranted with Sarah's poor sportsmanship and at time complete disregard for the rules: particularly that kick on Lightning during hang tough (and yes it was clearly a kick.) Having an arrogant cheater as the champion not only wouldn't have painted the show in a good light but would also have gone against everything Gladiators stood for, priding itself on hard work and good sportsmanship everything Sarah was the antithesis of.

[@classicsportclassictiyl8547]

@@johnj7269 also shoving Rio off in suspension bridge as well she really rubbed the glads up the wrong way and it came back to haunt her in the final

[@jonathanhockey9943]

Mark on the cargo net, the best I seen that done since Phil Norman, given Phil Norman was his coach I imagine he helped him out with some good tips for how to master that.

[@craigfoye6674]

29:48 The crowd singing “Walking in the Winter Wonderland”!! One of these timeless Christmas music!!! 🎄🎅🎁☃️❄️🌨😇🔔❤️💯🎶🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@danalong1237]

44:24-44:28, John Sachs making a reference to the Lew Grade/Gerry Anderson TV series Stingray, stealing the show's catchphrase "Stand by! Prepare to 🚀 Stingray! Anything can happen in the next half-hour!"

[@davidfearis7335]

Ain't it funny how the Northern Champions with Sporting Backgrounds, lost to the Southern Champions with average everyday jobs!

[@neileckford6475]

Whats an 'average everyday job'?

[@davidfearis7335]

@@neileckford6475 Well in this case something that doesn't have a Sporting Background

[@therebel4332]

You'll find there's not a lot in it when it comes competition, its basically just sports people train all day and ultimately end up just being the fitter of the two. If the "average joe" puts his/her mind to it and trains and dedicates themselves they can be faster and stronger as proved by Mottram here who was agile, fast, strong and had great endurance.

[@acesfn7316]

How John Anderson did not see the blatant cheating in hang tough by Sarah is beyond belief. Sachs saw it, the crowd saw it and Lightning definitely knew what happened. That should have been checked out and Sarah should have been DQ'd. That wasn't the only time she broke the rules.

[@MrJJLincoln90]

I'll never understand why Sarah felt the need to stretch the rules. She was clearly a very capable contender who could easily have won legit. Just made her losing to Andreya all the more sweeter at the end.

[@nicoladale1668]

What was wrong with John Anderson. He didn't see Sarah's rule-breaking yet he DQ'd Mark even though he tried to attack.

[@MrJJLincoln90]

@@nicoladale1668 He probably had a bias towards the Northern contenders coming from Scotland. Which backfired big time.

[@therebel4332]

@@nicoladale1668 Mark was defending whilst attacking lol,, shimmy and ducking isn't just standing there defending.

[@christianfrost8660]

I don't see anything wrong in Hang Tough. Although for the record, I also thought that Mark's efforts on Duel were sufficient.

[@STEJTHEGREATEST]

27:02 I'm disappointed how we didn't even get an explanation from John Anderson on why he allowed those points. It seemed very controversial to me.

[@therebel4332]

When you consider he took Mottrams points away later it seemed biased to me.

[@michaelvidal1971]

Why did they not keep this format for the future series

[@davidfearis7335]

37:22 Mark:- That John Anderson I Don't Think He Likes Me!

[@acesfn7316]

John Anderson needs glasses. He misses Sarah's kick in Hang tough then doesn't see the attack in duel

[@nicoladale1668]

Buster says about Wolf what we've been saying since series 1, that Wolf should be in panto!

[@KT926]

I was Team Buster all the way through the competition, can't believe he was beaten by Mark in this one but was ecstatically happy when he won the Northern final, he was awesome

[@therebel4332]

KT926 if not for mottrams fuck ups he was challenging reynolds time from the ashes,, buster was nowhere lol.

[@grahampilcher5867]

RebelAgainst TheEstblishment yh ur right there mark would have definitely completed the eliminator in about 54 seconds if not slightly faster because mark was quicker on some of the parts of the eliminator especially faster up the cargo net

[@therebel4332]

Steffan Bowen watching this back I think he would have beat mark everitt on level terms tbh. The slip on the beam cost him 2 seconds, and the pause b4 the eliminator cost him a second, still did it in 59 seconds, probably 56 taking away the mistake on the beam,, super quick.

[@roxannemaina4769]

Same here I was team buster all the way gutted he got beat by mark mottram but he was a brilliant contender

[@MrJJLincoln90]

I agree with what most have said about Sarah throughout this series. But for me personally I could have seen past her arrogant personality had it not been for her disregard for the rules, for that reason while I wouldn't have picked Andreya out as a potential winner she definitely deserved it more than Sarah did.

[@therebel4332]

Sarah lost it on Hang Tough,, by arrogantly thinking she could claw back anytime under 7 seconds she gave up 5 points by not going for platform,, cost her 2.5 seconds and adding more pressure to Andreya going into the final event only being 1 point behind, after being 16 down after 2. All in all her arrogance cost her this championship.

[@MrJJLincoln90]

@Steffan Bowen Sarah in the final was a lot like Georgina in the 1993 final. Very capable contender (in spite of her tendency to stretch the rules) but wanting it so much caused her to under perform on the night. Andreya was definitely the underdog in the final but she performed her best when she needed to. All in all I'm happy Andreya won as she deserved it more than Sarah IMO.

[@classicsportclassictiyl8547]

@@MrJJLincoln90 what played a part was Sarah not making the cut for that year's Olympics in Atlanta and having to watch Denise Lewis take Olympic Bronze only just might I add 5 points she got it by but she put in her worst performance on the games at the wrong time.

[@cryptosixgirl5659]

Sarah was a terrific contender but I think she had quite an arrogant attitude which was her undoing. That kick to lightnings face was not in the spirit of competition.

[@jacobburtonswfc]

Her choice of kit made up for it

[@jonathanhockey9943]

I think Sarah's biggest issue was Eunice Huthart as a coach, I can imagine a total personality clash between those two. Also, Andreya was very good, survived on duel against Rio, perhaps a little lucky getting free points on sky trak though, compared to poor Sarah who got blitzed by Lightning in that event. The hang tough debacle was probably a reasonable compensation for that so probably best the referee didn't get involved.

[@ewanellis2176]

Great episode!! all 4 finalists were all brilliant!! although i am surprised Mark didnt get disqualified on Pendulum!! coz he and Wolf went on the top section!! coz in the next series 1997 - quarter final 4, piers Bryant was disqualified against Ace for going on the top section, coz apparently it was dangerous!!

[@seanwood8883]

33:28 phwoar, Rios body though, damn!! 😍😍😍😘😘💞

[@andysee6996]

Okay, I have this season's gladiator ranking! Before I start though, what happened to Zodiac? I understand what happened to Nightshade, she probably never completely recovered from her Tilt injury in season four and probably only kept going because of her fan support. Zodiac on the other hand went from also-ran gladiator in seasons two and three, to Female Gladiator of the Year in season four, to only appearing in Danger Zone in season five! Would someone like to explain what happened to her? Anyway, here are the female rankings. 1. Rio 169.788 2. Lightning 162.417 3. Laser 160.231 (Why did she leave after only one season?) 4. Falcon 159.724 5. Rebel 154.74 6. Vogue 139.045 7. Panther 100.355 (No wonder she left after this season.) Okay, now let's get to the men! 1. Hunter 191.837 (Back-to-Back Awards!) 2. Rhino 177.471 3. Saracen 145.526 4. Warrior 138.174 5. Ace 115.966 6. Cobra 100.355 7. Wolf 99.107

[@steevee85]

Zodiac was injured in training on Pole Axe so could only do Danger Zone due to the injury. Laser could not get a work visa to return to S6, she is from South Africa. She appeared in the South Africa version as Sheena.

[@therebel4332]

Buster the quiet rage is back. The sort of bloke who'd rob a kids bike to get to the pub for a swft half.

[@acesfn7316]

THat tactic from Sarah on hang tough was a blatant DQ

[@therebel4332]

A smug little cheat that got her just reward in the end. I don't mind confidence and a bit of arrogance but she was a right sore loser and bad winner and I don't like that.

[@acesfn7316]

@@therebel4332 a bit unfortunate she got the most money.

[@davidfearis7335]

I think everyone will agree looking back on it, the SOUTHERN Contenders were lot more prepared than the NORTHERN Contenders were, seeing as there were a few potential contenders from the NORTH that should've gone further but made silly mistakes in the Eliminator, for the NORTH LADIES Michelle broke the rules on the travelator but still got to the NORTHERN FINAL, Sarah breaking the rules almost as much as Wolf does. For the NORTH MEN 3 contenders in the heats who had head-starts in the Eliminator made very silly mistakes which took the out early, Adrean tearing his Hamstring on the Balance Beam, Robby going into Spaghetti Junction too high and getting tangled up badly & of course Andy who had a 10 SECONDS HEAD-START on his opponent fail miserable on the travelator twice before being beaten at the end. To be continued...

[@CarlAdams-m7k]

Eunice's face says it all 50:00

[@MrJJLincoln90]

Watching Sarah crash and burn in this final is still incredibly satisfying. Calling a spade a spade, she was the most unlikable and least deserving finalist in the show's history. The evidence is right there with the illegitimate tactics she used throughout her run (the shove on Rio during Suspension Bridge and the kick on Lightning during hang tough). She was the antithesis of everything gladiators stood for, getting across that cheating gets you far in life. Her losing to Andreya is still incredibly cathartic and for all the right reasons.

[@hollymackenzie9923]

Totally agree

[@Anthony-Elliott]

Jane Smith was definitely the most boring contestant

[@tourous4life]

I loved how Laser gave her a backhanded blow then smacked her on the way down too for good measure 😂

[@hollymackenzie9923]

I also believe that Sarah thought she had the final in the bag, before it started

[@GentlemanJackabee]

OHHHH the nostalgia!

[@rewind2020]

i loved buster and wanted him to win so bad... but well done mark anyways

[@conormacdonald6237]

This Was Aired In Early 1997

[@jacobburtonswfc]

Andreya is lovely, the kit suits her

[@akjackson9326]

Also the only time she wore pink in any of her numerous appearances. Kind of strange given how many she did make.

[@jacobburtonswfc]

@@akjackson9326 She's lovely, love to have a wife like that

[@Will-h7h]

Andreya's hot

[@georgesmith4476]

Surprising result in the women's final, I thought Sarah would win comfortably.

[@DamienDrake]

This comment section is ridiculous. People keep going on about Sarah being a cheater and how letting her win would've "painted the show in a bad light," but that's a strange way to look at it. From the first event, you could tell that they had it in for her, while handing virtually every event to Andreya. If you're so worried about a someone not playing fair, why are you fine with an entire championship being set up to favor one of the contestants? Cognitive dissonance is real, kids.

[@MrJJLincoln90]

Because the fact of the matter is, Sarah brought it on herself. She was essentially the female Tracey Harris from the first series with no redeeming qualities and underhanded tactics thrown in. What happened to her in the final felt like a bite on the ass from karma and for all the right reasons.

[@Anthony-Elliott]

What tarnished this program is that the most boring contender ever won the whole women's champion of champions

[@coringraham1294]

They added Bell Sounds every time the Northman and Southern Champion sores in Powerball.

[@ewanellis2176]

yeah, its funny how this was the only episode where they did that, and never did it afterwards!!

[@acesfn7316]

Glad Andreya Won. JUst unfortunate Sarah went away with more money. Even John Anderson couldn't keep Mark from Winning

[@therebel4332]

Tried to hand it to Buster,, this is when they started bringing politics into it imo. Glad Mark smoked him on the eliminator.

[@coordinator3039]

Mark Everitt should have been the northern coach. Boston, Lincolnshire is in the north.

[@coordinator3039]

I actually spoke to Laser on one occasion

[@MultiVince95]

Nice

[@gower23]

Like why tf would the producers select benefits-lifter Eunice Scouse as coach of Team North. Some ambassador she was for our region. Totally unwarranted by LWT, but then again they were a London broadcaster.

[@MultiVince95]

Saturday 4th January 1997

[@CarlAdams-m7k]

Buster has got Busted by the climbing net.

[@conormacdonald6237]

GO Sarah Damm 43:22 She Had The Fastest Eliminator Time

[@acesfn7316]

If the contenders wore the same belt as the Gladiators for hang tough I believe Andreya would have scored at lest 5 points

[@davidfearis7335]

Question to everyone was it fair of John Anderson to DISQUALIFY Mark in Duel for Not Showing Enough Aggression?

[@therebel4332]

Wrong. Mark obviously wound him up somewhere along the line.

[@neileckford6475]

No thats the worst 'no attack' DQ ever, even the overly strict Australian ref who DQed about half of all draws for that reason.

[@caffeinatedtrouble]

Rhino said he put up a good fight! Surprised he didn't step in to try to defend Mark. He won the final anyway though haha

[@georgemacdonald206]

Neither female contender showed aggression in duel they defended.

[@mikestagraming]

Didnt it happen to pjero lighteela of Finland at international gladiators 1.0?

[@davidfearis7335]

For the SOUTH LADIES all played fairly and the result was pretty much clear and fair as can be in the events & Eliminators. For the SOUTH MEN a real shame PAT had to withdraw before the Eliminator with his Bad Back after HIT & RUN as he would've given Emmil a good run for his money. Paul Dunkley who scored 0 POINTS then injured his Right Knee after the High & Low Hurdles was also unfortunate as it lead him to being badly tangled in Spaghetti Junction in fact he seemed to be the most tangled up of all the contenders as his opponent reached the Cargo Net before he escaped from it. Then The Famous Emmil vs Freddie HEAD TO HEAD ELIMINATOR, where poor Emmil lost his Shoes in the Spaghetti Junction and then couldn't gain any sort of grip on the Balance Beam at all, that certainly robbed he of being in the SOUTHERN FINAL although I don't think he would've had a chance against Mark Mottram he was on fire throughout the SOUTHERN ROUND & THE GRAND FINAL. To Sum it up For the Ladies Andreya deserves the title but I do think she should've been competing against someone else from the NORTH other than Sarah Damm as it would've been a much fairer competition in terms of Sportsmanship. For The Men both MARK & BUSTER did fully deserve to compete against each other as the Eliminator showed.

[@MrJJLincoln90]

I wish Jude Shenton had reached the Northern final instead of Michelle Kimberly. Not only would she have been much stiffer competition for Sarah I believe she would have beaten her with her point scoring in her heat and semi final. She would also have been a much more deserving opponent to face Andreya in the final.

[@acesfn7316]

Sarha's pendulm was the dullest of the entire series

[@MarkcusHines]

My favorite UK female gladiators are Tina Andrew aka Laser, and Jane Omorogbe aka Rio. They are both six foot two inches, and they have combined weight of twenty-four stone, which equals to three hundred thirty-six pounds.

[@davidfearis7335]

Sarah Damm was a poor sport in certain places during the NORTH VS SOUTH Tournament, I also be told that DAMM is not a very nice surname to have so maybe that explains why Sarah was such a bad sport and didn't really deserve to win, a little bit like Michelle Kimberly didn't deserve to reach the Northern Final either.

[@kylebulger4240]

John Fashanu’s last season

[@coordinator3039]

Until Series 8

[@StFidjnr]

Andreya won the final on a head start i.e slower time than the runner up

[@johnj7269]

She played completely fairly though without taking shortcuts to win like Sarah did, so she deserved it more in my opinion.

[@johnstonmartin6650]

If we're only going on the eliminator, there's no point having the rest of the show, and the actual gladiators themselves.

[@therebel4332]

Its all about scoring as well though. mottram was clearly the best on the eliminator so he could actually take it a bit easier on some of the games and not exert to much energy, as long as he was within 3 seconds on the eliminator he was winning it without mistakes.

[@Anthony-Elliott]

Which made her the better lady in the events so deserved winner.

[@daedralord1]

It’s crazy that fashinus presenting never got better over the series

[@chrislayton4451]

Sarah absolutely no question should have been disqualified for kicking on hang tough but yet the referee disqualifies Mark for not attacking enough on Duel in the next event

[@Costas22]

That first event told you all you needed to know. They had the best Gladiator on Skytrak to chase Sarah and a useless Gladiator who had never done the event chase Andreya. That's how she got 5 seconds of her headstart. That's why I always say she's the luckiest Champion this show has ever had. Sarah losing this final would have been like Eunice losing hers to Nikki Wyatt.

[@johnj7269]

The difference between Eunice and Sarah is Eunice never had to resort to underhanded tactics to earn her points. As I've said previously, Sarah winning with her use of questionable tactics would have painted the show in a poor light, getting across that cheating gets you far. And yes the evidence is there both in the videos and comments others have posted which you refused to acknowledge.

[@DamienDrake]

​@johnj7269 You must've missed the episode earlier in this series where Eunice admitted, in as many words, that she cheated in Hang Tough. She joyfully talks about how she oiled herself before the event, causing Jet to slip off of her. You can be as pompous as you want, but this championship was a farce. It couldn't have been more obvious that the female Gladiators, and Anderson, had a dog in this fight from the word "go." If handing it to one contestant and screwing over the other doesn't paint the show in a bad light, I don't know what does.

[@musharrafismail1763]

Sarah underperformed in the final and seemed to have the harder gladiators on events especially in Skytrak. Sarah had the best gladiator on Skytrak against her in the form of Lightning while Andreya had the novice Laser. On Pendulum she had Falcon who was undefeated on it up to that point while Andreya had Vogue who didn’t have as good record as Falcon. On Hang Tough she again had Lightning (yes I know she used questionable tactics) but again facing the best gladiator on that event seemed a bit unfair whereas Andreya had a slightly easier gladiator in the form of Vogue. Even on Powerball Sarah had two of them on her for most of the game.

[@MrJJLincoln90]

Well, Sarah really brought it on herself with her arrogant demeanor and disregard for the rules. Having someone with those characteristics who's prepared to break the rules in order to win as the champion would have painted the show in a poor light and so the gladiators were determined to stop that happening. Seeing Andreya destroy Sarah in the Eliminator was incredibly satisfying, kind of like watching Ludwig Ramsay destroy the complete dickhole Tracy Harris. As for Skytrak, who gets which gladiator is decided on a coin toss for that event and others as series 8 showed.

[@therebel4332]

@@MrJJLincoln90 I wouldnt say she destroyed her Damm still had the quickest time. What did her was you say her arrogance,, no one likes that esp other competitors,, arrogance will lift the opposition to try that much harder to do you.

[@jonathanhockey9943]

But on Duel Andreya did get Rio, which was in theory more difficult perhaps, however laser did seem to be mastering the event by this point

[@davew5784]

Err...Sarah didn't complete the Eliminator in 1:10 - so not sure how she won an extra £1000.

[@steevee85]

She could've done. Andreya had a 5.5 sec head start so if she did it in Eg 1 min 13 secs, her head start would have helped her win overall

[@philsswweightlossdiary2944]

She did it in 1:10 in an earlier episode. Whoever had the fastest time overall won the £1000

[@Anthony-Elliott]

She deserves it for wearing the knickers

[@markcushines3120]

Both Laser and Rio have stood 6'2" tall, and they have weighed a combined 24 stone, which equals to 336 pounds.

[@seanwood8883]

Yes amazing isn't it. As big as some men that. Very impressive. Just look at when rio gets interviewed by guscott though and she's stood next to him. Her huge legs are like tree trunks compared to his

[@philsswweightlossdiary2944]

I was looking forward to this one because every previous video involving Sarah was referencing her constantly breaking the rules. She did get disqualified in her heat for pushing the gladiator off the suspension bridge. Ironically, either the next season or season after, pushing would be allowed. In hang tough here, she apparently kicked Lightning in the face. I can’t see it to be honest. I think they definitely did their best to help Andreya. Panther was useless in powerball and whoever was on Skytrak barely tried. I just think Sarah gave the glads a bit of their own medicine and they didn’t like it. That said, I didn’t like her arrogance considering this is supposed to be an entertainment show so I don’t have too much sympathy for her.

[@MrJJLincoln90]

The difference in suspension bridge was Sarah simply pushed Rio off the bridge without making any attempt to fight. In the other instances the push was part of the attack. And as for the kick, there was no mention of it being in the face, and she quite clearly did kick lightning, which played a part in the fall. And if you watch her in the previous hang tough against Lightning, there's also questionable footwork there, although it wouldn't pay off that time. Like it or not Sarah quite clearly stretched the rules on more than one occasion and as I've said previously, having her as champion would have painted the show in a poor light getting across that underhanded tactics gets you far in life.

[@philsswweightlossdiary2944]

@ncoln90 Yeah, Sarah did push her off, which wasn't allowed at the time. It was allowed in the next series, as clarified by John Anderson it was to 'make it more competitive.' Sarah just did it a year too soon. There are literally other comments on this very thread, and other episodes that say she kicked her in the face. Again, I'm not seeing a deliberate kick. A push maybe, but I'm not convinced you could call it a kick. Regardless of whether or not she stretched the rules, this episode was clearly, not 'rigged' necessarily, but the cards were stacked against her in a couple of games. In Powerball, she pretty much constantly had 2 gladiators on her who were actually trying and Panther was utterly useless at stopping Andreya. And in Skytrak they gave her the fastest gladiator and the other contender someone who had never done it before. You don't have to like her, but there's no denying that there were some underhanded tactics used in this episode.

[@MrJJLincoln90]

@wweightlossdiary2944 I would agree except who gets which gladiator on Skytrak was decided by a coin toss, which would be shown in the later series, so it can't be called underhanded. Also watching Sarah's footwork at 27:03, it was quite clearly a deliberate kick. And as I previously mentioned, similar tactics were used the first time she faced Lightning which gets overlooked since it didn't pay off. As I said previously, I could have looked past her arrogant demeanour had it not been for the underhanded tactics she used and what happened to her in the final felt like a bite on the ass from karma and for all the right reasons.

[@LJ808]

How is a car better than a vacation? These prizes seem backwards...

[@davidfearis7335]

For a start you can't have a holiday while Coronavirus is going on & anyway there is also the flight delays at airports

[@becky231]

I believe, at the time of shooting, the cars were worth a LOT more money than a weeks holiday

[@becky231]

@@davidfearis7335 Lol this is waaaaay before corona virus ever existed.

[@davidfearis7335]

Plus A Car Is More Convenient Than A Holiday As You Don't Have To Wait Long Hours At Airports

[@jacobburtonswfc]

@@becky231 yep, 24 years

[@classicsportclassictiyl8547]

Andreya was the underdog going in to the ladies final because Sarah was the favourite for the title being from Heptathlon and she had a point to prove having not made the cut for that year's Olympics and having to watch as fellow Heptathlete Denise Lewis won Olympic Bronze at those games. She scored higher as far as points were concerned (26 in the prelim, 21 in the area semi and 34 in the area final) compared to Andreya's 28 in her prelim, 15 in the area semi and 10 in the area final. But on the final Andreya performed better than Sarah simple as that she scored her highest points total 29 and the 11 point lead proved crucial.

[@MrJJLincoln90]

I agree 100% and Andreya was the more deserving winner taking into consideration Sarah's questionable tactics throughout her run.

[@therebel4332]

The problem with Sarah Damm was she was arrogant with no likable qualities. She thought she'd already won it before the final and only needed to turn up, she wasn't as good as she thought though and that's proved by not even getting close to qualifying for an event for the Olympics that at the time (96 here) Britain was dreadful in terms of quality of heptathletes at the time, she got nowhere near qualifying. There's confidence and there's misplaced confidence, she should have been a bit more humble because her skills were lacking.

[@classicsportclassictiyl8547]

@@therebel4332 Denise Lewis was coming through on her road to golden glory in 2000 and of course no Dame Jess Ennis and KJT. Andreya turned up when it mattered most and Sarah despite being quicker on the eliminator didn't.

[@christianfrost8660]

Andrea did so well because the Gladiators took a disliking to Sarah so they went extra hard against her and some suggest that other than Vogue the Gladiators were tanking it against Andrea.

[@johnj7269]

@@christianfrost8660 Andreya was a more deserving champion overall due to Sarah's poor sportsmanship and at times completely illegitimate tactics. There's something so satisfying about watching a humble underdog thrash an arrogant favourite, particularly if they're prepared to cheat along the way.

[@Costas22]

Anderson disqualifying Mark on Duel even though he attacked more than Andeya did shows: 1) How much John hated Mark. 2) How much crap Andreya got away with. "Sarah cheated", my ass.

[@johnj7269]

And yet Sarah got away with 5 points for using actual illegitimate tactics in hang tough, and yes it was clearly a kick.

[@SuperAdepeju]

49:32

[@PrinceTraumatizin]

Eunice is wearing her gladiator uniform underneath her tracksuit

[@vincitveritas3872]

What you on about? Time stamp please

[@seanwood8883]

She's still ugly though 😂

[@vincitveritas3872]

@@seanwood8883 I think she's nice

[@danielwilkins4748]

And?

[@RexBanner_]

Guess this settles it South >>> North

[@georginathomas86]

Fashnu was a very mediocre and awkward presenter

[@daedralord1]

John Anderson did everything to get on camera including being a prick

[@coordinator3039]

Well, the rule of Duel is that both the Gladiator and Contender must attack.

[@davidfearis7335]

1:45-1:53 RUNNERS-UP:- A HOLIDAY FOR TO SUN CITY IN SOUTH AFRICA & £1000 SPENDING MONEY 1:59-2:08 WINNERS:- £1000 CASH & A 4 WHEEL-DRIVE OFF THE ROAD FORD EXPLORER FAMILY CAR FASTEST ELIMINATOR TIME OVER THE SERIES:- £1000 CASH BONUS