Last night, contestants of The Games came to blows behind the scenes after a disagreement over placements in a breaststroke race.
Phoenix Gulzar Brown accused Chelcee Grimes of giving her a “shove” and not playing “fair” during the hurdles on the new ITV show and asserted her claim to third place in the breaststroke ahead of her. Footage captured backstage of the heated exchange following last night’s event was shown on tonight's episode.
In the clip, Phoenix told the camera following her after the tight finish in the breaststroke: “So they’re saying they want to re-check it because they are saying Chelcee came third and I didn’t. That’s bull crap! I busted my ass on that.”
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Footage had seemed to indicate Chelcee had marginally pipped Phoenix for third place in the 50m breaststroke. However, a review of the result took place after the race and the technological analysis and independent judge both confirmed that Phoenix was in third place and Chelsee came fourth.
In another clip, Phoenix raised the close finish between her and Chelcee for first and second place in the 100 metre hurdles event, which was shown on Monday night’s opening show of the Games, with Chelcee winning by a whisker. Standing among a group of fellow contestants, presenters and production staff, Phoenix, gesturing to Chelcee, said: “She pushed me yesterday.”
Chelcee replied: “I love the girl, but I’m not getting robbed like that.” Phoenix said: “I played fair, you didn’t play fair yesterday, man.”
The pair started to argue and as the exchange built up, the wider group started to feel uncomfortable. The clip ended with one of them saying: “I’m going home.”
Yet another clip showed the contestants on a coach. Chelcee said: "You know what I love Phoenix to death and I love sport. But I don't like sport like that. Apparently I didn't touch the touchpad."
Watching a replay of the race on her phone, Chelcee said: "I'm touching the wall, clearly! Phoenix, I love you girl. But, you've got to beat me fair and square."
Back in the studio, presenter Holly Willoughby helped to clear up the situation as she explained: "So shall we clarify this once and for all? The results were verified by a independent judge after the show. The rules say you must put BOTH hands on the touchpad at the finish line with enough force to trigger the electronic timer - I didn't know that.
"The independent judge confirmed that Phoenix took third place by 300th of a second and Chelcee was fourth. So, let's draw a line under that shall we?"
The Games airs each night this week at 9pm on ITV and the ITV Hub
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