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Fred Sirieix said he is “bursting with pride” and “happiness and joy” after his daughter won a bronze medal in the women’s synchronized 10m platform dive at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
On Wednesday (July 31), 19-year-old Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and her teammate Lois Toulson, 24, took to the winners’ podium at the Aquatics Centre.
The First Dates star, 52, was seen cheering from the stands as the two British divers were presented with their third-place medals.
Following the event, Sirieix took to social media to toast a glass of Champagne to his daughter’s and Toulson’s success.
“This is the most beautiful feeling,” he said in a video on X.
“I am bursting with pride, bursting with happiness and joy. It feels like I’m going to explode,” he added. “Girls, well done. Thank you very much for this amazing day.”
The French TV star and maitre d’ raised his glass to the screen before finishing: “To you.”
In a subsequent tweet, Sirieix shared: “I’m still crying. Thank you so much for all your messages. It means a lot. Sorry I can’t reply to all. Merci xxx.”
He is part of the BBC’s presenting team at the games.
Ahead of the competition, he said he would be “too nervous” to commentate on air while his daughter competed.
He told the Radio Times: “I’ll be at the pool, watching Andrea, not working, I don’t want to comment on my daughter diving. It’s too close to my heart.
“I’ll be speaking and commentating post-event when everything’s done. I want to enjoy it. Regardless of what happens, there will be tears.”
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Sirieix shares daughter Andrea and son Matteo Lucien Spendolini-Sirieix, 15, with his former partner Alex Spendolini.
Spendolini-Sirieix made her Olympic debut three years ago at the Tokyo 2020 Games when she was just 16.
She has since secured individual 2022 Commonwealth and European titles, and her bronze this year made her the first British woman in World Diving Championships history to secure a medal in an individual Olympic event.
“Success to me doesn’t equate to medals. I want to go there focused and determined and joyful. I want to come back feeling like I made the most of it, I gave it my everything,” she said in an interview before her historic victory.
“A competition doesn’t define who I am but I really want to make memories. Without those memories, those medals are worthless.”
Additional reporting by Press Association
