Gladiators fans are outraged after being turned away from the revival filming after ‘hours’ of queuing – despite having a ticket.
The remake of the popular 1990s programme is presently in production, after the BBC’s announcement last year that it would be resurrecting the physical competition series.
Bradley and Barney Walsh, father-son pair, will host the show, which will feature a new generation of superhuman Gladiators competing against a courageous group of opponents in the ultimate test of speed and strength.
Fans in Sheffield, who had received free tickets to watch the games live through Applause Store, were outraged on Thursday after many were rejected away after queuing for hours.
One angry Twitter user wrote: ‘@ApplauseStoreUK rubbish planning and organisation for Gladiators. @SheffieldArena today. Queuing for 2 hours!! Why give out thousands of tickets extra knowing you cant accommodate! Was soooo excited to go and see them and ended in disappointment!’
‘This is the 7000 people plus who were refused entry for the gladiators filming after you sold tickets. Abismal waste of people’s lives. Awful management and event planning,’ another fumed.
@BBCOne @GladiatorsTV @Ofcom
This is the 7000 people plus who were refused entry for the gladiators filming after you sold tickets. Abismal waste of peoples lives. Awful management and event planning pic.twitter.com/HAy6k7YCQG— trufhunter (@trufhunter) June 1, 2023
@ApplauseStoreUK rubbish planning and organisation for Gladiators @SheffieldArena today. Queuing for 2 hours!! Why give out thousands of tickets extra knowing you cant accommodate! Was soooo excited to go and see them and ended in disappointment! 😞
— Holly Kimberley (@HollyKimberley) June 1, 2023
So how many complaints will @ApplauseStoreUK get today for sheffields gladiators show for fuel and loss of earnings….. 12000 e-tickets designated for only 3000 physical? No mention of this on the paperwork. Feel so sorry for the position youve just put the parking staff in 👍🏻
— Jordan Burrows (@RockabillyJUD) June 1, 2023
Contenders, ready?! @bbcgladiators @SheffieldArena #gladiators pic.twitter.com/1XyBbZOgHG
— Brett Hadley (@BrettHadley42) June 1, 2023
Todays half term activity! Being in the audience of the new gladiators series! @bbcgladiators pic.twitter.com/q1BNVfbw75
— Jody Smith (@J0dz85) June 1, 2023
So the #gladiators taping finished at 9.45pm. Started filming at 2. Only 6 events and a lot of crowd filling. And major ticketing issues. Fun but long. Should come across good on TV. Tired now though.
— Brett Hadley (@BrettHadley42) June 1, 2023
Man what a day yesterday i saw gladiators yesterday and it was amazing.
— Anthony Barratt 🇬🇧 (@TherealBarratt) June 2, 2023
A third raged the event had been ‘shambolic’ and shared a picture of the ‘thousands’ of ticket holders refused entry.
However, several other Gladiators fans remarked they had a great time at the filming, with one describing it as ‘fun.’
‘Man what a day yesterday I saw gladiators yesterday and it was amazing,’ a happy audience member commented.
A spokesperson for Applause Store said: ‘We apologise for any disappointment caused yesterday morning. Due to an unprecedented demand for tickets for the recording of Gladiators at Utilita Arena Sheffield, we reached full capacity sooner than anticipated, which meant we sadly couldn’t accommodate everyone that turned up for the recording of the show.
‘As clearly stated on all our free tickets and on our website, entrance is on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to venue capacity and entrance is not guaranteed. All scanned tickets will receive priority tickets to a different show in the future. ‘
At its height in the 1990s, the original ITV series drew over 14 million viewers.
Throughout its initial run, Ulrika Jonsson hosted alongside John Fashanu and Jeremy Guscott.
Gladiators was resurrected in 2008, although it only lasted two seasons before being discontinued.
Gladiators returns to BBC soon.
Source My Celebrity Life.
