First Dates star Fred Sirieix was celebrating this week after his daughter Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix took home a bronze medal at the Olympics.
Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson competed for Team GB in the women’s synchronised diving 10 metre platform event and finished third behind China, who picked up gold, and North Korea, who finished in the silver second place spot.
Spendolini-Sirieix’s dad, Fred, was watching on in one of the broadcasting booths and could be seen celebrating when his daughter’s medal was confirmed.
Posting to Twitter/X shortly before the final event, Sirieix wote: “30 minutes [to go]… what a moment!”
Once the result was confirmed, Sirieix could be seen punching the air with joy – you can see the moment here:
A very proud dad
Fred Sirieix celebrates as his daughter Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix secures a bronze medal for Team GB with Lois Toulson! #BBCOlympics #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/mcbvcXLAb5
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 31, 2024
Speaking to The Sun before the event, she explained: “At the beginning, all I got was that I was Fred’s daughter. I wasn’t Andrea.
“Then people realised, she’s more than just someone’s daughter, she has a lot more to say. I feel like that has helped me come out of this shadow. I’m really proud of my dad. And he does incredible things. But I want to build my own legacy.
“…I’m being recognised for the achievements that I have, not just from being 50 percent of someone’s DNA. It’s been a progression since Tokyo. I’ve grown into the woman that I am today. “Everything has progressed and it’s so nice to have my own identity.”
In other Olympics news, an organiser for the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony has shed light on why Lady Gaga’s performance was pre-recorded for the ceremony.
The launch of this year’s Olympic games took place in Paris last Friday (July 26), with the opening ceremony seeing 300,000 fans watching from the riverside as an armada of boats carried athletes along the Seine in the pouring rain.
It included performances from Gojira, Celine Dion and Lady Gaga – however, some viewers were surprised to learn that the latter’s was actually pre-recorded.
Now, the choreographer and head of dance for the Olympics Maud Le Pladec has explained why it wasn’t performed live, citing the unfortunate weather conditions on the day.
“Unfortunately, it was the only [performance] that, for safety reasons, we had to pre-record late in the afternoon, once we knew for sure that it was going to rain – we had minute-by-minute updates, we had never watched the weather forecast so closely in our lives,” she recalled (via Variety).
“We assessed that it was going to be too dangerous for performers, even with a few drops of rain. [Gaga] wanted to do it absolutely so we preferred to pre-record it rather than cancel it. The soil would have been slippery. She was wearing heels, very near the water, there were stairs… We had to be extremely cautious.”
It was also reported that the singer stayed on-site to watch the performance, and she later shared that she “wanted nothing more than to create a performance that would warm the heart of France, celebrate French art and music”.
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