‘Dream come true’ for Gladiators champion with Caithness connections
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A childhood dream came true at the weekend for an army officer when he won the Grand Final of the Gladiators television programme.
Speaking after winning the trophy, Finlay Anderson (35)-year-old, whose father and grandparents stayed in Wick, said: "It is unbelievable. What an experience."
He and fellow finalist Wesley Male were level on 14 points each going in to the last event which he won to take the title.
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The programme has contestants competing against the Gladiators in a series of games, before going head-to-head with each other in the obstacle course-style Eliminator.
Finlay previously lost to Wesley in the quarter-finals but qualified for the semi-finals as the fastest loser and went on to be crowned champion.
He said he would like to return to the programme as a Gladiator.
Finlay, an Army officer who lives in Edinburgh, said taking part in the Grand Final was "surreal."
"I started this journey just happy with the opportunity to be on such an iconic show from my childhood,” he said. “The dream has now reached a whole new level."
Finlay used to play at being a Gladiator in his granny’s living room in Wick as a five year old when the programme was first broadcast in the 1990s.
His granny and grandad were the late Stella and Sandy Anderson.
His father, Evan Anderson comes from Wick but now lives in Edinburgh, and was in the audience when the programmes were being recorded.
Finlay also has aunts, great aunts and cousins in Caithness as well as family in Orkney and has fond memories of the far north.
"We used to go up to Caithness two or three times a year because my granny and grandad were there. I have fond memories of Caithness and being on Reiss sands. The last time I was there would be about three to four years ago," he said.
He previously described taking part in Gladiators as "a once-in-a-lifetime experience" and said winning the tile "would be a childhood dream come true."
The Grand Final was screened on BBC1 on Saturday night. The female title was won by Dublin fitness coach Marie-Louise Nicholson who defeated Sheffield firefighter Bronte Jones.
