Gladiators Star Karenjeet Kaur Bains Joins Judging Panel for V&A Innovate National Schools Challenge 2026-27

The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has officially announced that Karenjeet Kaur Bains, the renowned powerlifting champion and star of the hit television series Gladiators, will serve as a distinguished judge for the upcoming V&A Innovate National Schools Challenge for the 2026–27 academic year. Her involvement marks a significant intersection between high-performance athletics and creative design education, bringing a unique perspective to a competition that encourages young people to tackle real-world problems through innovation.

Karenjeet Kaur Bains has carved out a pioneering career in the world of professional sport. Widely recognized by television audiences as "Athena" on Gladiators, she has balanced her high-profile media career with a deep commitment to social impact, particularly through her efforts to empower South Asian women in the fitness industry. As an online coach, she has dedicated herself to helping individuals break down barriers and achieve their personal health goals. Her credentials as an athlete are equally formidable; she is a former Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships junior titleholder and holds the distinction of being the first British Sikh woman to represent the United Kingdom at both the European and World powerlifting championships.

By joining the V&A Innovate panel, Bains brings a mindset defined by resilience, iterative improvement, and the pursuit of excellence. The V&A Innovate National Schools Challenge is designed to foster these same qualities in students, inviting them to look at the world around them, identify challenges, and conceive of design-led solutions that can drive positive change.

In a recent interview regarding her appointment to the panel, Bains shared her enthusiasm for the upcoming challenge and the opportunity to engage with the next generation of thinkers. When asked about what she is most looking forward to, she highlighted the inherent connection between athletic discipline and the design process. She noted that as an athlete, her professional life is a constant cycle of identifying performance bottlenecks, overcoming physical or mental challenges, and engineering solutions to improve results. She hopes to see students apply this same rigorous, problem-solving mindset to their entries. Bains emphasized that her primary goal as a judge is to encourage students to cultivate a belief in their own ideas, push the boundaries of conventional thinking, and recognize that, regardless of their age, their contributions have the tangible potential to make a meaningful difference in the world.

The 2026–27 cycle of the V&A Innovate challenge is centered around three core themes: "Simplify," "Empower," and "Nurture." These themes serve as the foundational pillars for the students’ projects, providing a framework for their creative inquiries. For Bains, these concepts are deeply personal and reflect the core tenets of her own career and advocacy work.

Discussing the significance of these themes, Bains explained that for her, they are all ultimately about making a positive, measurable difference in people’s lives. "Simplify," she noted, is about stripping away complexity to make systems, products, or ideas more efficient and accessible to the average person. "Empower," she described as the process of equipping individuals with the tools, confidence, and opportunities necessary to reach their full potential, a mission that mirrors her own work in fitness coaching. Finally, she views "Nurture" as the essential task of creating environments that foster growth, learning, and long-term development. Reflecting on her time in competitive sports, Bains highlighted that she has firsthand experience of how critical a supportive environment, paired with self-belief and a commitment to continuous improvement, is to success. She views these themes as a vital reminder to students that innovation does not always require grand, sweeping gestures; often, small, well-considered changes can have a profound impact on an individual’s quality of life.

The conversation naturally turned toward the role of design in everyday life and its importance in Bains’s own world. She argues that design is fundamentally about turning abstract ideas into practical solutions that improve the human experience. In the realm of elite sport, this is often highly visible—from the ergonomics of training equipment to the sophisticated technology used in performance tracking and athlete safety. Bains expressed an appreciation for how thoughtful design often addresses problems that users might not even realize exist until a solution is presented. She cautioned that good design is never merely about aesthetics; it is about a deep, empathetic understanding of human needs.

When asked about an innovation that she personally finds indispensable, Bains pointed to the smartphone. Far from being just a tool for leisure, she describes it as the central hub of her professional and personal life. As an entrepreneur managing a coaching business, communicating with a diverse client base, tracking her own rigorous training data, and creating educational content for her audience, the device allows her to maintain connectivity and productivity regardless of her physical location. She cites the smartphone as a prime example of how innovation can successfully simplify complex, multi-faceted roles, giving individuals more time to focus on the things that truly matter.

Looking ahead to the submissions from students, Bains offered guidance to those preparing their entries. Her most significant advice is rooted in curiosity and the courage to take risks. She encourages students to think creatively and, crucially, to shed the fear of making mistakes. According to Bains, some of the most innovative ideas in history have emerged from the simple act of asking questions, challenging the "way things have always been done," and approaching a problem from an entirely new angle.

She also underscored the value of collaboration. Because every student brings unique strengths and perspectives to a group project, she urges them to listen to one another carefully. She advised students not to be paralyzed by the pressure to produce a "perfect" idea immediately. In the world of sport, as in the world of innovation, progress is rarely linear. It is often the result of testing an idea, learning from what failed, and refining the process. Bains reminded the participants that they do not need to be experts or adults to enact change. The most important qualities they can bring to the V&A Innovate challenge are a willingness to learn, a dedication to iterative improvement, and a steadfast belief in the potential of their own ideas.

The V&A Innovate National Schools Challenge for 2026–27 is currently open for registration. The program is specifically tailored for student groups in years 7, 8, and 9 from state schools across England. The museum has provided a comprehensive suite of resources to assist schools, including a theme inspiration pack and dedicated toolkits for both teachers and students. These materials are designed to guide participants through the entire design journey, from the initial brainstorming phase to the final submission of their projects. As the competition gets underway, the involvement of figures like Karenjeet Kaur Bains highlights the V&A’s commitment to fostering a new generation of creative thinkers who are prepared to apply design-led innovation to the challenges of the future.