BBC Gladiators hosts issue 'special announcement' as star suffers painful injury

The latest episode of Gladiators was interrupted for a "special announcement".

Father and son team Bradley and Barney Walsh were back at the helm on Saturday (February 7) night.

During the pre-recorded show, they revealed that Gladiator Legend, whose real name is Matt Morsia, had sustained a serious injury during training.

Bradley informed viewers: "OK, folks. We have a special announcement."

Barney added: "One of our Gladiators has been injured and we're going to bring him out to talk about it. Please welcome Legend.",

Legend entered the arena with his left arm in a sling, greeted by the hosts, and proceeded to explain what had transpired.

He said: "Unfortunately, I've damaged my bicep tendon and I'm going to be out for a little while.

"I'll be honest I'm pretty devastated" he confessed, before lightening the mood: "Devastated for you guys because everyone knows you literally only come here to see me.

"It is obviously very frustrating not being able to take part in the events, mainly because we did testing this morning and even with one arm I'm still easily the strongest Gladiator."

As Legend exited the stage, Bradley quipped: "His arm may not work but his mouth still does. Don't worry because he'll be back."

Barney reassured viewers: "He will. You will see him back in the arena during the series but for now, on with the next event."

The wrestling star revealed on his YouTube channel that his left arm had been wrenched backwards during the incident.

Initially, he didn't believe the damage was severe, stating: "It felt weird, but I didn't really get any pain" however, upon reaching backstage, he noticed his bicep had bunched up midway along his upper arm, immediately signalling something was seriously wrong.

Following a scan, surgery was scheduled five days afterwards. The procedure proved successful, with surgeons managing to reattach the tendon.

He described the operation: "[They] went in there, found the tendon. Pulled it down, drilled a hole in the bone [and] put the tendon through the hole. Put like an anchor, like an anchor, like a screw, a bolt, whatever, at the bottom. And it is now reattached."

Gladiators is available to watch on BBC iPlayer