The Gladiators final has been thrown into chaos after contestant Zavia Hill was forced to pull out at the last minute.

The hopeful stormed to victory during Saturday’s semi-finals but was forced to forfeit her place in next week’s show after suffering a serious injury during one of the games.

Speaking about her exit a devastated Zavia said: ‘I got very emotional after I realised I’d hurt my leg as bad as I did. When I got home and the adrenaline had worn off, I realised I could hardly move my leg’.

Despite her disappointment Zavia, who will cheer on from the studio audience, gushed about her time as a competitor: ‘It was transformative. I feel like a butterfly with newfound confidence. Reaching the final felt special.’

Bosses quickly scrambled to find a replacement with Aneila Afsar, who was the fastest female runner-up from the semi-finals, being drafted in.

She will now take Zavi’s place to compete against Amanda Wah, alongside male finalists Joe Fishburn and Mus.

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The Gladiators final has been thrown into chaos after contestant Zavia Hill (pictured) was forced to pull out at the last minute.

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The hopeful stormed to victory during Saturday’s semi-finals but was forced to forfeit her place in next week’s show after suffering a serious injury during one of the games

Last week Gladiators viewers blasted the BBC for the ‘dumb and really unfair’ rule that turned the contestants into ‘open targets’.

The first challenge that Poppy, 32, Stacey, 36, Joe, 23, and Junior, 44, took on was the ‘ultimate game of chase’ AKA Unleash.

The players earned points if they managed to get back to the start point with their tag, however it’s not easy as they are only given a three-second head start.

They also have to charge through wall blocks and touch each step with their feet to pass the task.

Stacey was up first and Electro caught her as she was running up the stairs.

Next up was Poppy and she was chased by Fire. She was also caught just before the stairs.

Joe was nearly captured by Apollo on the stairs, but managed to get away from him, meanwhile Junior was caught by Phantom just moments before the steps.

Those watching at home rushed to X, formerly known as Twitter, to point out how ‘unfair’ the stairs in the challenge were.

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Zavia (R) said: ‘I got very emotional after I realised I’d hurt my leg as bad as I did. When I got home and the adrenaline had worn off, I realised I could hardly move my leg’.

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Bosses quickly scrambled to find a replacement with Aneila Afsar (R) who was the fastest female runner-up from the semi-finals, being drafted in

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Aneilia (right) will now take Zavi’s place to compete against Amanda Wah (left) alongside male finalists Joe Fishburn (far right) and Mus (far left)

One fumed on the social media platform: ‘The stairs in Unleash are so unfair! How is anyone going to make it up going one at a time?! #Gladiators.’

Another said: ‘Unleash is such a pointless game and almost impossible to win. Who cares if they take two stairs at a time?! Really?!’

A third added: ‘#Gladiators the rules on the stairs are stupid, there is no way the contender can win on Unleash unless the gladiator falls.’

‘Catching up on #Gladiators and to be honest I do think that the rules do need to change for Unleash,’ a fourth chimed in.

 Host Barney opened up about the challenge ahead of this year’s series.

Speaking about the task, the host said: ‘The contenders start in a smoke filled tunnel and race around a track and up some steps to grab the winning flag, but an unknown Gladiator is unleashed behind them trying to chase them down.

‘You’re going to love it.’

Fans will be happy to know that a star of the show has hinted that there will be a third series.

Gladiators viewers blast BBC for ‘dumb and really unfair’ rule

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Last week Gladiators viewers blasted the BBC for the ‘dumb and really unfair’ rule that turned the contestants into ‘open targets’

Those watching at home rushed to X, formerly known as Twitter, to point out how ‘unfair’ the stairs in the challenge were

Gladiators returned to our screens in 2024, which is a second revival of the programme which originally hit our screens in 1992.

Giant AKA Jamie Christian-Johal dropped a huge clue during an exclusive chat with Mail Online at the TV Choice Awards.

He told us: ‘I think series three isn’t quite confirmed but I’m sure we will be back. It’s been really nice having a positive influence on children and fitness.

‘When we were younger we would sit down with our families on a Saturday night but that has been lost because of streaming and technology so this has brought that back and I think its a great message and thing to do.’