Splash eliminated Detroit Lions star Ndamukong Suh during Tuesday night's broadcast of the new reality diving competition's second episode on ABC.
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"Thank you. I appreciate all the trainers and all their time and effort. And now it's time to go to real work," Ndamukong said following his ouster.
In addition, E! personality Chuy Bravo was forced to take himself out of the Splash competition due to an injury from a "freak accident."
"It was like a whole six weeks training for this to happen. I stepped on one of those little tables to jump to the other one, the big one, and the little table broke and I fell and broke my heel bone. It is very unfortunate. I won't be able to continue with this competition. Don't worry though, I'll be back for Season 2," Chuy said.
"I am very, very disappointed. I wanted to show the world and one special person [Chelsea Handler] that I am not lazy. I love her."
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However, Splash had a back-up replacement waiting in the wings since diving is a dangerous sport and injuries are very possible. Professional soccer player Brandi Chastain, who won two World Cups, stepped in for Chuy and competed.
"To be the alternate is hard because you don't know if you're going to get in. I don't want anything to happen to anybody, but I do want to compete. I don't see coming into the competition late as a disadvantage. No one has seen me dive so I am the secret threat. I hate being the alternate, I want to be in the game! Put me in the game," Brandi said in a video package before she actually entered the competition.
Ndamukong was eliminated from Splash after he lost the dive-off against Brandi.
Splash judges David Boudia, a London Olympic U.S. Gold medalist, and Steve Foley, an Australian Olympic athlete and USA Dive Team director, both opted to save Brandi because they believed she had enormous potential as a diver.
Had David and Steve come to a split decision, the live audience would've determined which contestant would be sent home.
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Ndamukong and Brandi were forced to compete in the dive-off after they had both received the lowest combination of judges' scores and the audience's scores for their first dives of the night.
Ndamukong's initial springboard dive earned an average score of 6.75 from the judges, while Brandi received an average score of 7.00 from David and Steve for her springboard dive.
While the audience's vote ended up counting for half of each contestant's overall score -- although the numerical values of the audience's vote were not revealed -- Ndamukong and Brandi still landed in the bottom two.
Three other celebrity participants dived and survived during last night's episode after undergoing weeks of training with medaled diving legend Greg Louganis.
Nickelodeon star Drake Bell earned an average score of 7.75 from the judges after he bravely dove from 23 feet and had great diving form -- complete with straight legs and pointed toes.
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Actress Nicole Eggert received an average judges' score of 7.75 as well after she dove from 16 feet. The judges were impressed she even tried the dive after experiencing a bad fall off the board during practice.
Kendra on Top star Kendra Wilkinson earned a 7.75 average score for her springboard dive after she conquered her great fear of heights. She got very emotional following her completion of the dive, which marked the first time she had ever even attempted it.
Next Tuesday night's Splash broadcast will feature the celebrities pairing up for a night of "team diving."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski