EXCLUSIVE: After nearly three months, the winners of Gladiators 2026 have been crowned champions…
Contenders ready! After nearly three months of hanging tough, the winners of Gladiators 2026 have been crowned champions. In last night’s grand final, Emily Bell and Josh McDonald took home the giant ‘G’ trophies. It was a night of record breaking with female finalists Emily Bell and Naomi Church being the youngest and oldest contenders in the competition aged 23 and 40.
The age difference was insignificant against their fitness levels and it was neck and neck throughout until Emily, 23, gained advantage on the balance beam and stormed up the travellator in one attempt – a first for her in this series – before claiming her crown as the winner.
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Elated by her win that’s come after eleven weeks of being pushed over by the Powerball and taken over The Edge, Emily told host Bradley Walsh: “I just won Gladiators season
three on my 23rd birthday! I could not imagine being here with a better person. We’ve made history as the oldest and youngest female contenders. What a woman, she is such an inspiration and shows that at any age, just go out and do it.” Sprinting up behind them for their chance of a trophy were male finalists Josh McDonald and Tyler Spence. The duo battled out one of the most dramatic travelator battles in the show’s history.
But it was Josh who flew up first and later told Bradley, “We knew it was going to be a close battle and it could have gone either way. I was thinking about my mum the entire time, this win is for my family.”
Speaking after her win Emily said she never wants to do the travelator again.
“I don’t think I will fully comprehend for a long time what I’ve accomplished and what I’ve overcome both physically and mentally. I’m also feeling very grateful that I won’t have to do that travelator again.” When asked about her highlights of the season she admits succeeding over the Gladiators is up there. She said: “Starting my experience surviving Cyclone on duel [was one], to ending it knocking off Sabre – there is simply no feeling like it. Also, having a whole arena sing me happy birthday, how many people has that happened to?”
However, it’s a tough call what she is more proud of, winning Gladiators or achieving a degree from Cambridge.
She said: “That beautiful G [trophy] is going right next to my framed Cambridge degree. It’s tough to say which one I poured more blood, sweat and tears into (one was definitely more sweat heavy and the other more tears heavy), but both represent accomplishments beyond my imagination.”
Meanwhile Josh was equally as blown away by his success. Speaking after his win he said, “I still can’t believe I have won the show, I feel very privileged to have even been part of the experience. My highlight from the whole experience without a doubt was taking part in the Elimator. It felt strange having watched the show for so long to then be standing at the start line of the Eliminator, looking up and seeing the course in front of me is a memory I will never forget.”
It’s a once in a lifetime experience and Josh isn’t planning on forgetting it any time soon. He added, “I have always been a very competitive person and would often become very disheartened if I lost, during my time on Gladiators there were times when the events did not go my way. I learned that I was able to deal with these situations, pick myself back up and focus on the next challenge ahead.”
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