ST. LOUIS — Amazing physical strength and mental toughness: that's what you need to be an American Ninja Warrior. The 12th season of the popular NBC show kicks off Monday, Sept. 7 and St. Louisans will be excited to see familiar sites and faces.
It was home to the Greatest Show on Turf and now it will showcase the greatest display of blood, sweat and tears in ninja form.
"We were trying to figure out how we were going to film the show in the middle of a pandemic and do it safely," American Ninja Warrior cohost Matt Iseman told 5 On Your Side. "We had to find a place that was big enough indoors, so we came to the Dome and shot the entire season in just a matter of weeks."
They were all up against so many obstacles as they worked around the pandemic. A typical visit to St. Louis and all of its attractions couldn’t be in the works.
"Unfortunately, we couldn't even get out to enjoy the St. Louis cuisine,” Iseman said.
“We were in the Lou and couldn’t even go to the Arch,” added cohost Akbar Gbaja-Biamila.
“American Ninja Warrior” fans love Captain NBC – Jamie Rahn, who has been a competitor on the show – who recently moved to St. Louis to open a gym here. Training has been so different these past six months and contestants weren't even sure if there was going to be a season, so some felt behind the eight ball.
Gbaja-Biamila talked about watching these ninjas over the seasons.
"I watched these ninjas really hone in, they had some virtual friends and family piped in to be able to see their support. It was just a different feeling, yet they still brought the energy,” Gbaja-Biamila said.
If you think the obstacles and course has been hard in the past, Gbaja-Biamila talked about this being "the hardest and some of the craziest obstacles you have ever seen.” One in particular he said stood out is the "corkscrew.”
“Which is screwy,” he said with a laugh. “I mean it will have you discombobulated, disoriented, you don't know which way you are facing by the time you get off this obstacle.”
5 On Your Side asked the hosts if they had ever completed the course and after some teasing between the two, Iseman admitted he had not but Gbaja-Biamila did and hit the buzzer on one special celebrity Red Nose Day.
There will be 150 competitors instead of 700 for this season. One big difference this season is just because a competitor hits the buzzer doesn't automatically mean they will move on.
"There were some scenarios where the contestants hit the buzzer, but they didn't do it fast enough,” Iseman explained. "This season we asked more of our ninjas.”
To determine the winner during the finals, the top eight ninjas will compete in a playoff bracket where they will race head to head on the power tower. The winner will walk away with $100,000.
Season 12 begins at 7 p.m. Monday on NBC.
Watch 5 On Your Side's full interview with "American Ninja Warrior" cohosts Akbar Gbaja-Biamila and Matt Iseman in the video here: