Splash! is a British reality television series that follows celebrities learning diving. The celebrities performed each week in front of a panel of judges and a live audience in an Olympic-size diving pool with the result each week partly determined by public vote. Gabby Logan and Vernon Kay presented the show, whilst Team GB Olympic gold medal-winning diver Tom Daley was the expert mentor to the celebrities. It was filmed at the Inspire: Luton Sports Village, which is based in Stopsley, Luton.
The show premiered on ITV on 5 January 2013, winning the ratings battle for its 7:15–8:15 p.m. slot with an average audience of 5.6 million viewers, a network share of 23.6%, however, it was cancelled on 24 June 2014 after two series.
The format for the show originated from the Celebrity Splash! franchise created by television production company Eyeworks in the Netherlands, and was broadcast on SBS6 as Sterren Springen Op Zaterdag (Celebrities Jumping on Saturday).
Format
The show was broadcast live on ITV on Saturday evenings, and was presented by Gabby Logan and Vernon Kay. In the show, celebrities competed against each other, performing dives in order to impress a judging panel and the viewing public. The series consisted of heats where two celebrities from each go into the semi-finals, and then followed by a live final on successive Saturdays.
Series overview Two series were broadcast, as summarised below.
Series Start Finish Winner Runner-up Third place Fourth place Hosts Judges1 5 January 2013 2 February 2013 Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards Jake Canuso Linda Barker Gabby LoganVernon KayAndy BanksJo BrandLeon Taylor2 4 January 2014 15 February 2014 Perri Kiely Richard Whitehead Keith Duffy Dan Osborne
Main series results
Series 1 (2013)
The first series began airing on 5 January 2013 and ran for 5 weeks ending on 2 February 2013.
The contestants for the first series were: Celebrity Known for Status Jade Ewen SingerEliminated 1st Helen Lederer Comedian, actress & writerEliminated 2nd Jenni Falconer TV presenterEliminated 3rd Diarmuid Gavin Garden designerEliminated 4th Caprice Model and actressEliminated 5th Joey Essex Reality TV starEliminated 6th Donna Air TV presenterEliminated 7th Dom Joly Comedian and actorEliminated 8th Tina Malone ActressEliminated 9th Anthony Ogogo Olympic professional boxerWithdrew Charlotte Jackson Journalist and TV presenterEliminated 10th Omid Djalili Comedian and actorEliminated 10th Linda Barker Interior designer and TV presenterThird place Jake Canuso ActorRunner-up Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards Olympic ski jumperWinner
Series 2 (2014)
On 4 February 2013, a second series was confirmed; it began airing on 4 January 2014 and ran for 7 weeks, ending on 15 February 2014.
The contestants for the second series were: Celebrity Known for Status Gemma Merna ActressEliminated 1st Ricky Groves ActorEliminated 2nd Gemma Collins Reality TV starEliminated 3rd Martin Offiah Rugby playerEliminated 4th Paul Ross JournalistEliminated 5th Toyah Willcox SingerEliminated 6th Patrick Monahan ComedianEliminated 7th Paul Young SingerEliminated 8th Penny Mordaunt PoliticianEliminated 9th Pollyanna Woodward TV presenterEliminated 10th Jenny Eclair ComedianEliminated 11th Una Healy SingerEliminated 12th Michaela Strachan TV presenterEliminated 13th Danielle Lloyd ModelEliminated 14th Austin Healey Rugby playerWithdrew Anna Williamson TV presenterEliminated 15th Dan Osborne Reality TV starFourth place Keith Duffy SingerThird place Richard Whitehead Paralympic runnerRunner-up Perri Kiely DancerWinner
Reception The show received generally poor reviews from critics after its premiere, including "utterly awful", "a new low for television" and "probably the worst programme ever screened in primetime". Despite the negative critical response, it achieved reasonable ratings and was recommissioned for a second series, before being cancelled in 2014.
Concern was shown for Daley's role in the show by the head of British Swimming David Sparkes, who claimed that Daley was in danger of putting his media work before his sporting career, and possibly hampering his chances of a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Andy Banks, Daley's coach at Plymouth Diving and British Swimming and judge on the show, disagreed with Sparkes' criticism, stating his concerns that such negative comments might take the fun out of diving for Daley and indeed drive him away from the sport altogether to pursue his media career. Daley eventually won a bronze medal in the men's synchronized platform dive in the 2016 Games.
Heat 3 contestant Tina Malone made negative comments in an interview with Liverpool radio station Juice FM several days before her appearance on the show. She called Splash! and other reality shows "garbage", as well as stating that "it's the big fat cheques that make me happy", in reference to the fact she appears in such TV shows only for the financial reward.
International versions
An American version, under the title Splash, premiered on 19 March 2013, from the Riverside Aquatics Complex at Riverside City College and Pasadena's Rose Bowl Aquatics Center on ABC television. The American version features 2012 Olympic 10m diving champion David Boudia and American diving legend Greg Louganis as judges. The Seven Network in Australia also commissioned Celebrity Splash! which aired in 2013. In 2015, a Lithuanian version of the show, called Šuolis, premiered on TV3.
References
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