We all know Robot Wars is awesome. It’s robots fighting – what’s not to like? And we all know it’s a serious business. People pour their heart and soul (not to mention their money) into their creations, and when one gets ripped limb-from-limb in a savage beating, with the losing team fighting back the tears as they survey their destroyed robot, it’s easy to sympathise.
But one man took it all a little too far on Sunday’s episode, storming off camera after it was announced that his team, series veterans Behemoth, had lost a match to a bunch of kids. To be fair, it’s absolutely hilarious:
Predictably, everyone loved it:
But, after the initial reaction of Twitter collectively howling with laughter, questions started to emerge about whether there were any mitigating circumstances for his actions.
Turned out that the contestant, Anthony Pritchard, may have been more angry with his own team than the opposition, team Cherub, as they had tried out an untested weapon in a match they needed to win, against his own wishes.
He explained afterwards, "Putting a grabber of that type onto the robot for a critical match was a very poor decision, there. The main reason I walked out there was because I was so annoyed with the rest of the team for making that decision not to go with a guaranteed win, with using the scoop. It's proven that, sometimes, innovation doesn't pay out – sometimes, it's best to use what you know works."
However, others said that, regardless, he should have been able to hold it together until the cameras had stopped rolling.
Which is probably true, but in the heat of battle, with the stakes high and tension higher, sometimes you just need to have a tantrum.
