Andrew Flintoff: Preston Top Gear host amongst the favourites to host a reboot of Gladiators TV sports show

The iconic sports entertainment game show will return later this year in its new home on the BBC with an 11 episode series - three decades after the very first episode aired. It will welcome a brand new generation of superhumans who will compete against contestants in the ultimate test of speed and strength. Bookmakers have placed the former England cricketer among the favourites alongside Holly Willoughby with odds at 5/2. The duo hosted ‘The Games’ on ITV and were praised for their on-screen chemistry, with bookies predicting the BBC will snap them up.

Only last month the 45-year-old said he was ‘lucky to be alive’ following the Top Gear test track horror crash which left him with broken bones and ‘psychologically traumatised’. Friends of Freddie claimed he was considering quitting the show entirely after the incident. A source close to the star told The Times: “He was making a good recovery physically following the crash, but the psychological impact was less clear.”

Pop star couple Marvin and Rochelle Humes are second favourites in the market, with the couple 7/2 to host the reboot. They currently host ‘The Hit List’ on the BBC and it’s likely the broadcaster could offer them another show. Former Love Island star Wes Nelson is the 6/4 favourite to be a Gladiator in the new series with English actor and mixed martial artist Josh Herdman as the second favourite with odds at 7/2.

The series is scheduled to be filmed in May and June at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield, with eleven 60-minute episodes set to broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in late 2023. Gladiators was originally broadcast on ITV in 1992 lasting eight seasons until 2000. A revival of the show took place on Sky 1 back in 2008, but only lasted for two seasons. The reboot will include new games alongside classic challenges, with each episode set to end with the infamous obstacle course ‘The Eliminator’.

You can view the full betting odds HERE.