By Fiona Pryor
Entertainment reporter, BBC News
The 12 athletes are ready. The 32 contenders are ready. But are audiences ready for the return of ultimate action game show Gladiators?
The show, which began in 1992 on ITV, is back this weekend on Sky One with a brand new batch of warriors and presenters Kirsty Gallacher and Ian Wright.
"You can't keep a body like this covered up, I'm absolutely thrilled that I get to expose as much of it as possible"
The set is bigger, the games are harder, but coach and referee John Anderson - best known for his trademark bellow to introduce each competition - returns with the show.
"It's got an exciting new 21st Century feel about it," the 72-year-old - who has joined the production team for the new show - says.
"It was a wonderful experience and a great thrill when they said would you like to do it?"
Anderson helped select the 12 Gladiators, who were picked for their fitness ability, their attitude and - of course - the way they look.
Atlas - whose real name is Sam Bond - admits fake tan is a must for any good Gladiator.
"The way the cameras work and the way the lighting works, you can really white out if you don't have a certain tan level. So we take good care of ourselves," he explains.
In fact, it is the men who have been accused of being the most vain.
Enigma (Jenny Pacey) says the women joke about the men having "big-a-rexia" as they cannot stop looking at themselves during choreography classes.
"It's the opposite to anorexia," she says. "They've been around each other so much they all think they're smaller than one another."
All the Gladiators' costumes make the most of their lean and toned bodies and do not leave much to the imagination.
"You can't keep a body like this covered up, says Oblivion - wrestler and actor Nick Aldis by day.
"I'm absolutely thrilled that I get to expose as much of it as possible."
Each Gladiator has been given a character to play and Oblivion is obviously marketing himself as the bad guy.
Ego battle
"Gladiators is all about being larger than life iconic figures on television," he says.
"As far as I'm concerned it's everything I ever aspired to be - a completely larger than life character who just bursts through your TV screen."
But does he see himself as the new Wolf - the one the audience loves to hate? "I'm not interested in being the next someone. I'm interested in being the first Oblivion.
"However the audience reacts to me I'll work it to my best advantage."
All the Gladiators insist they get on but only Spartan (Roderick Pearce) admits a battle of the egos could be on the horizon.
"We're all friends and we all bounce off each other, ultimately we're a team but at the same time we're competing for the crowd," he says.
Fame and popularity
Two-time Olympic medallist Du-aine Ladejo - now known as Predator - is clear the show will take no prisoners.
"I'm the Olympic athlete and maybe I'm the name in the group but at the end of the day I have still got to prove myself in the arena," he says.
"If I step out into the arena and I don't take care of business then I expect my walking orders just like anyone else."
Asked whether fame, popularity and female attention had been behind his decision to take the job, he reveals there was only one reason.
"My direction and my purpose for this is aimed at the children," he says.
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