Comedian Jessica Fostekew and Olympic weightlifter Emily Campbell bring you the ultimate Gladiators fan podcast.

Coming January 2025.

Produced by Plosive. 

Design by Welcome Studio.

Music by Huge Davies.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Contender, ready? Gladiator, ready? 3, 2, 1… GO!

Welcome to Contender Ready, a brand new Gladiators fan podcast, hosted by Emily Campbell (greatest British female weightlifter of all time and double World and Olympic medallist) and Jessica Fostekew (clown). 

In anticipation of the brand new TV series starting this Saturday, Jessica and Emily look back at some of the best bits from series one. 

We want to hear from you! What would YOUR Gladiator name be, and why? Send us a voice note or video to contenderreadypodcast@gmail.com.

Follow Contender Ready on Instagram @contenderreadypodcast

Recorded and edited by Aniya Das for Plosive.

Design by Welcome Studio.

Music by Huge Davies.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With just a day to go before the brand new series of Gladiators hits our screens, to warm us up, Jessica and Emily take a look at the recent Gladiators Celebrity Special. 

Joining them this week is special guest Josh Widdicombe, and we hear from Celebrity contenders Ellie Taylor and Rob Beckett about their time on the show. 

Josh is on tour with his stand up show Not My Cup of Tea. For tickets head to www.joshwiddicombe.com.

Ellie is touring her brand new show Palavering! from April 2025. For tickets head to www.livenation.co.uk/ellie-taylor.

And forget the Beaver, it's time to see Giraffe, Rob's new stand-up show. For tickets head to robbeckettcomedy.com.

We want to hear from you! What would YOUR Gladiator name be, and why? Send us a voice note or video to contenderreadypodcast@gmail.com.

Follow Contender Ready on Instagram @contenderreadypodcast

Recorded and edited by Aniya Das for Plosive.

Design by Welcome Studio.

Music by Huge Davies

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gladiators is back baby! The brand new series has begun and Jessica and Emily catch up on their favourite moments from the first episode of the new series.

This week they’re joined by comedian and skating extraordinaire, Lou Sanders aka GLUTTON.

Lou is going on tour with her brand new stand-up show No Kissing In The Bingo Hall. For tickets and information head to lousanders.com.

And Lou's book What's That Lady Doing? is available to buy in hardback, paperback and audiobook. For more information hear to lousanders.com/book.

We want to hear from you! What would YOUR Gladiator name be, and why? Send us a voice note or video to contenderreadypodcast@gmail.com.

Follow Contender Ready on Instagram @contenderreadypodcast

Recorded and edited by Aniya Das for Plosive.

Design by Welcome Studio.

Music by Huge Davies

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Jessica and Emily discuss the brand new (and terrifying) Gladiator, Cyclone, as well as debriefing on this week's Contenders' performance. 

They’re joined by comedian and Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins badass, Zoe Lyons aka BLIZZARD.

Catch Zoe on tour with her brand new stand-up show Werewolf. For tickets and information head to zoelyons.co.uk.

We want to hear from you! What would YOUR Gladiator name be, and why? Send us a voice note or video to contenderreadypodcast@gmail.com.

Follow Contender Ready on Instagram @contenderreadypodcast

Recorded and edited by Aniya Das for Plosive.

Photo by Matt Crockett.

Design by Welcome Studio.

Music by Huge Davies

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With a brand new game and a potential budding Glad romance, Emily and Jessica have lots to talk about as they debrief on this week's Gladiators heat. 

They’re joined by comedian and extensive climber, the brilliant Rosie Jones aka WIND.

Follow Rosie on Instagram @josierones

We want to hear from you! What would YOUR Gladiator name be, and why? Send us a voice note or video to contenderreadypodcast@gmail.com.

Follow Contender Ready on Instagram @contenderreadypodcast

Recorded and edited by Aniya Das for Plosive.

Photo by Matt Crockett.

Design by Welcome Studio.

Music by Huge Davies

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we meet our final set of new Contenders battling it out for a place in the quarter finals, and you bet Jessica and Emily have a lot to say about it.

They’re joined by comedian, boxer and future Celebrity Gladiators winner, Stephen Bailey aka THE PEACOCK.

Stephen is going on tour with his brand new stand-up show TART. For tickets and information head to www.stephenbaileycomedy.co.uk.

We want to hear from you! What would YOUR Gladiator name be, and why? Send us a voice note or video to contenderreadypodcast@gmail.com.

Follow Contender Ready on Instagram @contenderreadypodcast

Recorded and edited by Aniya Das and Naomi Parnell for Plosive.

Design by Welcome Studio.

Music by Huge Davies.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gladiators was back on our screens on Saturday with the penultimate heat before the quarter finals. How many Joes will make it through to the quarters? Emily and Jess discuss.

They’re joined by comedian and snowboarder extraordinaire, Harriet Kemsley aka CHAOS.

Harriet is on tour with her stand-up show Everything Always Works Out For Me. For tickets and information head to harrietkemsley.com.

And listen to Harriet's podcast Single Ladies In Your Area wherever you listen.

We want to hear from you! What would YOUR Gladiator name be, and why? Send us a voice note or video to contenderreadypodcast@gmail.com.

Follow Contender Ready on Instagram @contenderreadypodcast

Recorded and edited by Aniya Das for Plosive.

Photo by Linda Blacker.

Design by Welcome Studio.

Music by Huge Davies.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

No Gladiators fix this week? No problem. We've got you covered.

With no TV episode out this week, Jessica has taken it upon herself to do some homework, so she and Emily leaf through The Official TV Companion Book and share some of the best (and weirdest) facts.

Which Gladiator eats birthday cake for breakfast? Why does one Gladiator hate the Gauntlet? And who is a five times winner of the *checks notes* World Coal Carrying Championships?

We want to hear from you! What would YOUR Gladiator name be, and why? Send us a voice note or video to contenderreadypodcast@gmail.com.

Follow Contender Ready on Instagram @contenderreadypodcast

Recorded and edited by Aniya Das for Plosive.

Photo by Matt Crockett.

Design by Welcome Studio.

Music by Huge Davies

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week got to see what Jessica has dubbed 'The War of the Lovely Boys’, as some of our favourite Contenders return for the first quarter-final.

Jessica and Emily are joined by Olympic rower and Gladiators super-fan, Helen Glover aka BLADE.

We also hear a voicenote from Hull comedian Amy Gledhill aka THE PROCRASTINATOR.

We want to hear from you! What would YOUR Gladiator name be, and why? Send us a voice note or video to contenderreadypodcast@gmail.com.

Follow Contender Ready on Instagram @contenderreadypodcast

Recorded and edited by Aniya Das and Naomi Parnell for Plosive.

Design by Welcome Studio.

Music by Huge Davies.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week it's the first semi-final - another battle of the Joes and the best Powerball we've ever seen.

They’re joined by author, improviser and comedian Cariad Lloyd, aka ALLERGY.

See Cariad live in improvised Jane Austen show Austentatious. For dates and tickets head to https://www.austentatiousimpro.com.

Her children's picture book Where Did She Go? is out 8 May 2025. Available to pre-order now.

And listen to her podcast Sara & Cariad's Weirdos Book Club wherever you get your podcasts.

We want to hear from you! What would YOUR Gladiator name be, and why? Send us a voice note or video to contenderreadypodcast@gmail.com.

Follow Contender Ready on Instagram @contenderreadypodcast

Recorded and edited by Aniya Das for Plosive.

Design by Welcome Studio.

Music by Huge Davies.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's the third and final quarter-final (yes, we know) and we find out who will make it to next week’s semis. We also catch up with everyone’s favourite Glad... *checks notes* Knitro.

They’re joined by very special guest, Jessica's son and Legend superfan, Rudy aka G.O.A.T.

We want to hear from you! What would YOUR Gladiator name be, and why? Send us a voice note or video to contenderreadypodcast@gmail.com.

Follow Contender Ready on Instagram @contenderreadypodcast

Recorded and edited by Aniya Das for Plosive.

Design by Welcome Studio.

Music by Huge Davies.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's our second quarter-final and the Contenders are battling it out for a place in the semis.

They’re joined by comedian and Gladiators convert, Chloe Petts aka DYKE.

After a sell out run, Chloe's stand-up show How You See Me, How You Don't will return to the Soho Theatre from 9th June-14th June. For tickets and information head to sohotheatre.com.

We want to hear from you! What would YOUR Gladiator name be, and why? Send us a voice note or video to contenderreadypodcast@gmail.com.

Follow Contender Ready on Instagram @contenderreadypodcast

Recorded and edited by Aniya Das for Plosive.

Design by Welcome Studio.

Music by Huge Davies.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.