‘American Gladiators’ Star Huntress Hopes to Inspire Young Women in Sports as Pop Culture Phenomenon Returns

Prepare to be entertained now that “American Gladiators” is back for its third iteration, out Friday on Prime Video.

The reboot welcomes a brand new batch of 16 superhuman athletes to hold the mantle as the titular Gladiators opposite some worthy, everyday Contenders, who themselves get to compete for the $100,000 prize. For Gladiator Huntress — aka personal trainer Sydney Hunter — it’s a chance to inspire young women in sports, from her physical strength all the way down to her choice of uniform.

“Growing up as a woman in sports, I did get bullied for the muscles. I started lifting really early, when I was 13, so now that I have a platform where it can be celebrated is a full 360,” Huntress told TheWrap. “It’s an opportunity to be able to inspire other young girls to know that you have strength and that it needs to be celebrated. And also, there’s no limit to your dreams. Literally do whatever you want to do. I’m living out my dreams on one of the biggest TV shows that’s going to be streamed around the world, and I am so excited for it.”

“We got to send some of our inspo, our favorite costumes, some of our favorite
looks for what we wanted. I ran track growing up, so I pulled a bunch of pictures of Florence Griffith Joyner. That’s the ultimate track girl, the super model, an icon, a legend,” she added, further praising Allyson Felix, Sanya Richards-Ross and Serena Williams as some of her other fitness role models.

Huntress will be joined by a number of other recognizable faces from across television and sports — such as former WWE wrestler Eric Bugenhagen, CrossFit Games champion Dani Speegle and “Big Brother” stars Jessie Godderz and Faysal Shafaat. Plus, the Amazon reboot is co-hosted by Mike “The Miz” Mizanin, adding another WWE tie-in to the show (alongside TV personality Rocsi Diaz).

“It’s a pop culture phenomenon, and it’s been so cool seeing the worlds merge — people that watched it growing up, people that are now new viewers of it; whether they’re fans of The Miz, fans of us as Gladiators, or just fans of television, seeing the two worlds collide is going to be so cool,” Huntress teased. “Us as the Gladiators, we are a team; we’re competing against the Contenders — but you aren’t beating us, so it’s really you against us and we are defending our territory. It was great to be able to come together as a team and bring back such a legendary show. It’s honestly such an honor.”

The 2026 “American Gladiators” pulls some Main Event challenges from the 1989 syndicated original as well as the 2008 reboot on NBC, while also introducing fresh obstacles of its own. Still, it’s The Eliminator that ultimately decides how this competition reality game show plays out.

“It was hard. Obviously, at the beginning, when there’s so many of them, you don’t really know their storylines. But towards the end, when you start to know names and can look at their face, it’s like, ‘Lock in. Focus on the mission at hand. Focus on the goal,'” Huntress explained. “At the end of the day, they are amazing human beings. But I have to defend my turf … and listen, you have a six-second deficit in The Eliminator? You have to figure that out.”

“American Gladiators” Season 1 streams Fridays on Prime Video through May 1.

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