Olympian Tom Daley wants Splash! to return for second series
Olympic bronze medallist Tom Daley wants to return for a second series of diving show Splash! which reaches its finale tonight.
The London 2012 star has mentored 15 celebrities over the course of the ITV series, with three contestants - veteran ski jumper Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards, interior designer Linda Barker and Benidorm actor Jake Canuso - left to dive for glory.
After an initial mixed response from viewers, Daley insisted the show's impressive ratings have proved the critics wrong.
Here's the Splash! final trailer ahead of tonight's show:
The first show of the series - hosted by Vernon Kay and Gabby Logan - prompted a varied reaction, with some viewers slating it on Twitter. But it has consistently pulled in more than five million viewers, beating the BBC1 offering Britain's Brainiest.
Daley said: "There's always going to be criticism with the first show because it's getting things going and getting it all sorted. Each show's got better and better and the viewing figures have stayed up."I think it's kind of changing most of the critics' opinions now which is great."
Daley said Edwards, 49, Barker, 51, and Canuso, 43, proved "you don't have to be a spring chicken to be a diver".
They have pushed themselves to further levels of difficulty in the series, with Canuso entering from a handstand and his two rivals stepping off backwards in the semi-final. The trio all went from the highest board, at 10m.
Daley thinks all three finalists - who will each have to perform a synchronised dive with him in addition to their individual dives - are in with a chance of winning.
"It's tough because there's so many reasons why each person should win. Linda is the only girl left in the competition and she's really gutsy, Eddie's also doing the more difficult dives and doing them technically well, but Jake's a perfectionist and wants to do really well so it's going to be whoever can handle the pressure," he added.
"The judges want to see progression. They have to do something harder or else the judges won't be impressed. The public want to see people going off the 10m (board), doing somersaults, and taking risks.
"I don't think they're going to let anyone down at all this week."
The Splash! final airs on ITV1 tonight at 7pm.
Watch more Splash! highlights from the show below: