Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix: The Team GB diving star whose father is TV host Fred Sirieix

Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix isn't your average 19-year-old.

The Team GB went into her second Olympic Games having worked tirelessly to become one of the country's most promising athletes - and the hard work has paid off.

Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson secured a bronze medal in the women's synchronised 10m platform diving event.

But she's had to overcome unique challenges to get here - from making a name for herself beyond being the daughter of First Dates star Fred Sirieix to overcoming a fear of diving and becoming one of her country's brightest talents.

Here's what you need to know about Spendolini-Sirieix.

Family life and early career

The diving sensation from London is the daughter of famous foodie Frenchman Sirieix and Italian mother Alex Spendolini, and grew up alongside younger brother Matteo.

She says it was her mother who got her into diving from a young age.

"I didn't want to start diving… my mum forced me to start diving," she said with a laugh in a video on Team GB's YouTube channel.

"My family means so much to me because they really dropped everything for my sport," she added.

It was clear early on she had a knack for diving - so much so that she was talent-scouted at just eight years old.

She burst onto the international stage at age 13 when she started on the senior dive circuit, and just two years later won her first solo gold at the 2020 FINA Diving Grand Prix.

"I was a little scrawny kid, no meat on me, and I was throwing myself off 10m like the adults," she told Team GB.

"Nothing is expected of you when you're the underdog, it was like a superpower."

A challenging Olympic debut - and getting over a fear of diving

By the time she made her Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games, things had changed slightly for the then-16-year-old Spendolini-Sirieix.

She was bigger and stronger, but she was suffering from what she later identified as the "twisties" - a mental block which leaves athletes disoriented in the air.

Gymnast Simone Biles recently raised awareness of the psychological phenomenon, which kept her out of much of the last Olympics in Toyko.

It's associated with stress - something Spendolini-Sirieix was experiencing a lot of at the time.

"I was just struggling a lot in every section of life: in school and training, in finding contentment in everything that I was doing," she told Olympics.com in November 2022.

"And I just couldn't dive. I couldn't throw myself. I couldn't do anything simple, anything hard."

She subsequently went into her first Olympics feeling the pressure of "disappointing everyone" and knowing she wasn't at her best.

Remarkably, she still managed to get through the rounds and reached the final in the women's 10m platform, ultimately finishing seventh - Britain's best individual result by a female diver in Tokyo.

But her mental health struggles persisted - so much so that she nearly gave up diving entirely a few months later.

"When you get overwhelmed with things you can't control, it affects your diving. If you're not mentally 'on it' on that 10m [platform], the risks are quite severe," she told World Aquatics.

She developed a "mental block" when it came to diving and said it became a fear.

"I was going to quit, so I had to tell someone that I wasn't okay," she added.

Reaching new heights in health and career

After a challenging first half of 2022, Spendolini-Sirieix began confiding in her family, friends and coach.

"I used to want to do everything by myself and didn't want to put my burdens on other people," the diver told Olympics.com. "But they are there for a reason and they can't help you unless you go to them."

She says it was that communication which allowed her to pick herself back up both mentally and physically.

The year ended up becoming a breakthrough year for her, seeing her win double European gold, two Commonwealth titles, and a bronze medal at the World Championships.

A year later, she topped that by winning silver at the 2023 World Championships.

She now has 25 senior national and international medals in total.

"My overall goal is to get a medal at an Olympic Games and Paris is very close to my heart because it's in France," she told Olympics.com before the games began.

"I've got family, I'm half French and I think it's going to be as close to a home games as possible. But as of right now, I'm taking the process one day at a time."

But the teenager dives deep - even outside of the water.

"Success to me doesn't equate to medals," she said.

"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.

"A competition doesn't define who I am, but I really want to make memories. Without those memories, those medals are worthless."

A first Olympic medal

All her hard work over the years culminated in a bronze medal in the synchronised 10m platform diving alongside partner Lois Toulson.

It was a promising start as they jumped into second at the end of round two, but could only post 60.3 in the third round, causing them to tumble into fifth.

But the GB duo battled back in the final rounds, scoring an impressive 77.76 on their final dive, coming in behind diving powerhouses China and North Korea.

After collecting their medals, Spendolini-Sirieix said they didn't know how tight the competition was during the final round.

"First off we didn't look at the scoreboard, so we didn't actually know how close it was," she said.

"But our back twist, as Lois has said, a lot of times is our strongest dive and we just wanted to be strong on our last dive, finish strong.

"Whatever happened I was proud to represent Great Britain alongside Lois."

'It's always a rollercoaster with you girls!'

In an emotional interview after becoming Olympic medallists, Spendolini-Sirieix stood next to her father and Toulson and told the BBC through tears: "I'm so happy. I usually have so much to say, I don't have anything to say today.

"Having my family here, doing it alongside Lois... I've grown so much as a person alongside her not just [as] an athlete."

Sirieix, who watched the pair in the crowd, said: "What a competition. It's always a rollercoaster with you girls! I mean you really took me round the bend and through the mill!

"But that last dive... that was spectacular. You pulled it back and it was amazing."

The television maitre d' added he was "very impressed" and "bursting" with pride over his daughter's achievements.

Sirieix has been commentating on air during coverage of Paris - but said before the games he would avoid doing so while his daughter dives.

"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," he told Radio Times.

"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."

'I was simply Fred Sirieix's daughter'

The teenager previously admitted she found it "a little bit difficult" being known just as Sirieix's daughter in the build-up to the 2020 Olympics.

"My name wasn't in the newspaper," she told Olympics.com in 2022.

"I was simply Fred Sirieix's daughter, which was quite hard because I was doing the diving, but my name wasn't coming up.

"Then this year ever so slightly the newspapers started to say 'Andrea'. And then my name would repeat a bit more, bit more.

"It's very nice to finally have that recognition and to know that I am the diver. I'm Andrea. Dad does his job and he is amazing at it, but it is great to build my own identity off my own achievements."

When will Spendolini-Sirieix compete again?

After winning bronze in synchro, we'll next see her compete in the individual 10m platform diving on 5 August.