Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix: who is Fred Sirieix’s daughter, what medal did she win, who is mum Alex Spendolini?

Diver Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix has scored her first senior international victory on Thursday (4 August) evening at Sandwell Aquatics Centre, bagging the gold medal in the Women’s 10m Platform final.

Spendolini-Sirieix will return to the pool on Saturday (6 August), where she will compete in the Women’s Synchronised 10m Platform event alongside Eden Cheng.

This is everything you need to know about the young Team GB diver who just won a gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Who is Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix?

Spendolini-Sirieix is a 17-year-old professional diver who is currently representing Team GB at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

She was born in London on 11 September 2004 and was eight years old when she was talent spotted by Crystal Palace Diving Club, where she was persuaded to take up diving.

In 2018, at the British Diving Championships, Spendolini-Sirieix and fellow Crystal Palace Diving Club diver Josie Zillig won the Women’s 10m Synchronised Diving event - the following year, Spendolini-Sirieix and partner Emily Martin bagged the Women’s Synchronised Diving competition at the Junior European Championships.

Spendolini-Sirieix won the solo gold at the British Diving Championships in the Women’s 10m Platform competition in 2020, and only a few weeks later she won her first international gold medal at the FINA Grand Prix.

She also made her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, earning a place as the youngest member of the Team GB diving crew. At 16-years-old, Spendolini-Sirieix reached the Olympic final in the Women’s 10m Platform, however she ultimately finished in seventh place.

Last year, Spendolini-Sirieix and Noah Williams took home the silver medal in the 10m Mixed Synchronised event at the 2020 European Aquatics Championships, where she also won a bronze in the Individual 10m Platform event.

Back in 2020, Spendolini-Sirieix was announced as the winner of the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award.

Talking to the Times about the accolade, Spendolini-Sirieix said at the time: “When I found out I had won, I didn’t know what to say - I was so happy.

“I was really proud that the hard work I had put in was recognised.”

Who are her parents?

Spendolini-Sirieix is the daughter of Channel 4’s First Dates maitre d’ Fred Sirieix and Alex Spendolini.

Sirieix and Spendolini were together for 12 years, and had two children, including Spendolini-Sirieix and brother Lucien.

While Spendolini has kept out of the spotlight, you’ll likely know Sirieix from a number of TV shows.

As well as First Dates, you may also recognise Sirieix from programmes like First Dates spinoff First Dates Abroad, Tried and Tasted: The Ultimate Shopping List, Million Pound Menu, Step Up to the Plate, Remarkable Places to Eat, Snackmasters and Gordon, Gino and Fred: Road Trip, with chefs Gordon Ramsay and Gino D’Acampo.

In 2021, Sirieix starred on the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special episode, where he partnered up with DIanne Buswell, and in 2016 he released a book titled First Dates: The Art of Love.

In 2018, Sirieix revealed on social media a new relationship with a woman whom he has only ever affectionately referred to as Fruitcake. They got engaged in 2020 and were set to get married in 2021, however had to push back the big day due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier this year, Sirieix and Fruitcake, whose real name hasn’t been publicly revealed, appeared on the Channel 4 series Celebrity Gogglebox.

Talking about how he and Fruitcake met, Sirieix told OK: “I was walking down the street, and we just started talking and went for a drink together - and that was that.

“We were just in the right place.”

What did she win at the Commonwealth Games?

Spendolini-Sirieix won the gold medal in the Women’s 10m Platform Diving final at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

She topped the leaderboard with a huge 20.20 points, with her team-mate Lois Toulson winning silver.

Following her win, Spendolini-Sirieix said: “I’m very, very happy. It’s amazing for it to be on home soil, a home games, the first time that I’ve actually had a crowd because I didn’t have one at Tokyo and at the other internationals I’ve done I haven’t really had a big crowd.

“It’s been incredible, I’ve had so much fun. I wasn’t really scared I was so peaceful, so I’m just really, really happy with how it went.”

She said that she planned to celebrate her win with some hot chocolate, adding: “I was peaceful throughout but on the last dive I had quite shaky calves, I think that definitely helped with the push that I needed.

“Overall I had so much fun, I’ve never had that much fun in a competition.

“I’ve got a hot chocolate waiting for me!”

Spendolini-Sirieix’s father praised the young diver on social media after her performance, sharing a video clip of her competing to his Instagram where he can be heard cheering her on as the crowd applaud her dive.

He captioned the post: “Gold! #commonwealthgames2022 #diving #10m #platform”, adding: “Well done mon duck” with a duck and heart emoji.