Get ready for Bromans - ITV2's new reality show that tests wannabe gladiators to the limit. Putting them through their paces will be former Gladiator's star David McIntosh. And he's NO pushover...
It's been dubbed 'Love Island with an ancient twist' – but the star of new ITV2 reality show Bromans reckons it's a lot more than that.
Starting On Thursday, Bromans sees eight couples transported back to Ancient Rome, where the lads are transformed into gladiators – dressed in sandals, leather loin cloths, the lot!
The boys will perform daily tasks, leading up to a grand final in a special constructed Colosseum packed with a baying crowd. Only the very best gladiators will make it through to the Emperor's Games, where one will take home £10,000.
The guys, who will battle it out with help from their loving girlfriends, are trained by the fearsome Doctore – better known as David McIntosh, star of Sky 1's Gladiators. And he’s not one to be messed with…
"As Doctore, I'm trusted with training these people, breaking them down but also building them up," reveals David. "Many of them came in acting all 'Jack-the-Lad' and thought they could do what they wanted so, right from the get-go, I had to initiate who was boss. So I had to come across really hard and really fearsome because, if I slipped at any point, I knew they would take my kindness for weakness."
He went on: "My goal was to get the raw human instinct out of these men, so that you see a real difference in them. So, for me, this show is motivational too – you see theses guys transition from a ruffian to a man of courage and honour."
David said he drew on his experiences from his time as a Royal Marines Commando to push our 'Bromans' to the limit.
"I've seen what it’s like bringing young men in and seeing them all wet behind the ears and not knowing so much; not knowing their true potential. I knew for a fact that however these guys came into this show was not going to be how they left. Seeing them transform from the lads they are at the beginning to how they are at the end, it’s a huge transition."
While David's in no doubt that Bromans will be popular among those who enjoyed ITV2's other hit Love Island, he reckons it will have the appeal of a certain major sporting event…
"I do think it will attract the Love Island audience 100 per cent," said David. "But I also think it will draw in the older generation and the younger generation mainly because this show has triumph in it and everybody wants a little taste of triumph, don't they?
"It's like watching the Olympics, everyone's glued to the edge of their seat – young, old, everyone's watching it and will be rooting for someone."
Although the ladies involved in the show were supposed to be keeping an eye on their other halves, muscular David admitted they often tried to flirt with HIM!
"Doctore is a very attractive man," teased David. "I don’t have many dealings with the women but I did notice a dreamy gaze every now and again. They couldn’t keep their eyes off me, what can I say?"
Bromans starts on Thursday September 14 at 9pm on ITV2.
