Gladiators, the beloved Saturday night TV staple, is returning to UK television screens.

The reality TV show involves a host of superhuman contestants testing their strength and speed against the Gladiators through a series of gruelling physical challenges.

During its original eight-year run (1992-2000), it attracted an audience of 14 million to watch ordinary people push themselves to their physical and mental limit.

The show was also renowned for its Scottish referee John Anderson, whose refrain of “Contestants, ready? Gladiators, ready?” became the stuff of TV history.

But will he be returning to refereeing duties in the Gladiators reboot?

Who is John Anderson?

Born in Glasgow in 1931, John Anderson was the famous referee in the original 90s series of Gladiators, joining the series in 1992 until it finished in 2000.

He reprised his role when the show was briefly resurrected on Sky One in 2008.

He also has occasional cameos as a referee, such as appearing on two episodes of Top Gear with Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc.

Prior to this, however, he had a successful career as a teacher and coach for some of the UK’s most elite Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games athletes.

He was coach to an Olympian at every Olympics from 1964 to 2000 and has coached five world record holders and an estimated 170 GB Internationals in every Track and Field event.

Plaudits included representing Scotland as a schoolboy footballer, becoming the first home Scot to gain the prestigious Full FA Coaching Certificate (then only four were awarded per year), being one of only two confirmed recipients (along with Wilf Paish) of every British Senior Coaching award available, and founding Maryhill Ladies AC in Glasgow.

He also coached world record-holding runner Dave Moorcroft and double Commonwealth 10,000m champion Liz McColgan.

Will John Anderson return to the new Gladiators series?

Sadly, Mr Anderson, who is now in his nineties, will not be returning to the new Gladiators reboot, to the dismay of many original fans of the show.

Who will replace John Anderson as referee?

Mark Clattenburg has been confirmed as Gladiators head referee.

One of England’s most decorated referees, he became a Premier League referee in 2004 before becoming a FIFA-listed referee in 2006, meaning he could take charge of international fixtures.

He has overseen several major games, including the 2012 Men’s Olympics final, the 2016 FA Cup Champions League and European Championships Finals.

Speaking of his appointment, he said: “It’s amazing. When you look back to when it first started in the 1990s, Gladiators was so iconic and wherever you go in the world, people have heard of Gladiators.

“Growing up, I used to sit and watch every show. John Anderson, the original referee was so legendary.

“For me, it’s such an honour and such a privilege to now in 2023 to now be part of Gladiators. To be named referee after John Anderson is such an honour. Even though I’ve refereed some of the biggest games in the world, this is one the most amazing things I will do in my life.“

He will be joined by Sonia Mkoloma and Lee Phillips.

Sonia Mkoloma is a former English international netball player and made her debut for the English National Team ‘Vitality Roses’ in 1999.

During her career Sonia has competed at five Netball World Cups and three Commonwealth Games – making an incredible 123 international test appearances.

Sonia now works as the England Netball Assistant Head coach.

Lee is a fitness professional, firefighter and athlete.

After university, he became a full-time firefighter and began competing in firefighter fitness competitions.

In 2017 and 2022 competed in the World Police and Firefighter Games in Los Angeles and Rotterdam amongst 10,000 athletes.

He won gold in the Ultimate Firefighter and CrossFit competitions making him four times World Champion.

Is John Anderson married and does he have any children?

Very little is known about John’s personal life, but according to his Wikipedia page, Mr Anderson married his wife, Christine in 1962 and the pair are still together.

Despite surviving a heart attack in 2015, Mr Anderson has continued to mentor and coach athletes in recent years.