The first episode, which aired from 5:50pm on BBC One, was watched by an average audience of 6 million<\/a>, with a peak of 6.3 million. Meanwhile, ITV\u2019s The Masked Singer<\/a>, which aired the third episode of its fifth season from 7pm on ITV1, received an average audience of 3.7 million.<\/p>\n The ratings for Gladiators mean it is the most successful in a line of recent TV reboots, besting the viewing figures for other returning entertainment formats including Survivor<\/a> and Big Brother<\/a>.<\/p>\n The new version of Gladiators is hosted by Bradley Walsh and his son Barney<\/a>, and sees a whole new line-up of gladiators facing off against contestants in a mixture of new challenges and returning favourites.<\/p>\n Bradley Walsh previously said of hosting alongside Barney<\/a>: \u201cIt was an amazing feat for us to be able to do \u2013 for us especially, having been involved in the original Gladiators.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued: \u201cHow the show came about was Dan Baldwin rang us after we did Breaking Dad and said, \u2018Look we\u2019ve got this one-off. We\u2019d like to be able to do a show of Gladiators \u2013 a nostalgic show, a one-off\u2019, and we said, \u2018Yeah, OK\u2019, and Dan said, \u2018Because of the family background\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAnd the family background is that back in the day, Barney\u2019s mum, my wife, [was] sitting there. Don [Donna Derby] used to run and choreograph all the cheerleaders and then subsequently became the social producer on the show. And I used to go down and watch five weeks of filming.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was great and Barney came along and I used to walk Barney in the pram or the pushchair around the arena floor to meet all the Gladiators. He was only one or two or whatever it was, so it\u2019s a whole family affair.\u201d<\/p> This ratings win for the BBC comes after a strong start to the year for ITV, with Mr Bates vs the Post Office<\/a> becoming the broadcaster\u2019s biggest new drama in over a decade<\/a>.<\/p>\n In light of this, a repeat of the drama has been added into ITV1\u2019s schedules<\/a>, with the four episodes set to air nightly from Monday 15th to Thursday 18th January.<\/p> ![\"Mo](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/the-masked-singer-09ff2b2.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"the-masked-singer\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>\n