Splash! 2014 final: Perri Kiely beats Richard Whitehead to be crowned Splash! champion

Perri was crowned Splash! 2014 winner (Picture: ITV)

So that’s it. The Splash! 2014 final saw Perri Kiely crowned champion. The Diversity star beat Paralympian Richard Whitehead to take the celeb diving crown.
Actually it wasn’t really a crown – more like a plastic trophy but Perri looked thrilled none the less.
Both Perri and Richard were the strongest in the final so it was no surprise that the final choice came down to them both.
But let’s rewind to the beginning of the show and see how the celebs, including Keith Duffy and Dan Osborne, did.
Perri Kiely kicked off the show and was going to do one of the hardest dives ever seen on Splash! It was called a forward two and a half somersault WITH TUCK! You have to shout the last bit according to Vernon Kaye
.
‘If he blinks, he’s toast,’ said Tom Daley ominously. Oh, who was he kidding – Perri was pretty much perfect and was awarded 10 from all the judges.

Perri concentrates on his first dive (Picture: ITV)

Keith Duffy thought he made it through to the final because of his Emerald Isle inspired budgie smugglers. And also that said trunks slipped down in the semi finals. Well the trunks were back – but had he tied them tight enough this time?
He performed a one and a half somersault dive. The trunks stayed on but the dive was a mess and he earned 25 points.

Keith ‘the trunks’ Duffy (Picture: ITV)

Richard Whitehead MBE – was going to do an arm stand forward somersault piked. He was taking it very seriously as you would expect from a gold winning Paralympian. In the VT he was worried about the somersault bit. If he over rotated he’d land somewhere painful, if he under rotated he also land somewhere painful.
Oh, it was all a tease as he ended up performing it perfectly. He got 29 points.

Richard performs his first dive (Picture: ITV)

Towie’s Dan Osborne was performing his solo dive last and was keen to prove he was more than just a pretty pair of trunks – and was going to do this by wearing… a pair of skimpy, glitter trunks.
He looked like he wasn’t concentrating in the VT. That’s because he wasn’t. ‘Tom didn’t expect to have someone he was coaching not listen to him,’ mused Dan. Erm, yeah we can understand that.
But Dan must have had an epiphany somewhere along the line – ‘If I knuckle down and concentrate I can actually get quite good at diving,’ he said. He deserved points just for that.
He was performing a backward one and a half somersault with twist. It looked horrible to me but the judges, who were doling out points like sweets, because it was down to the public tonight, bunged him 27.

Dan is not just a pretty pair of trunks (Picture: ITV)

Then it was the synchro diving where the divers had to dive WITH Tom Daley. No pressure then. This must be like the awkward bit in the X Factor when they have to sing with someone (a proper pop star) who is way better than them.
Perri’s dive with Tom, a backwards somersault, was marginally off in terms of synchronisation but it was enough to put him top of the leader board.
Keith’s inward dive with tuck from 7.5 metre board wasn’t as spectacular as his trunks and he was firmly at the bottom of the board.
Richard pointed out that he was a Paralympic medal winner and Tom was an Olympic medal winner – so it was pretty much in the bag, right? Actually he didn’t really say that but he might as well have because the arm stand backwards dive was pretty impressive and despite some off timing and they scooped 27.5.
Dan wanted to do a synchro dive with twists and everything! It was a forward dive with tuck – and it was the best of the bunch – the timing looked perfect and he scooped 27.5.
There was sadly no Splash! off this week just the results.
Dan came fourth followed by Keith in third place. And we know the rest.
Keith and Dan may have lost out on the diving crown but surely they both won the swimwear battle and that’s got to be worth something… right? Righ