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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Tom Blackburn

ITV's The Games viewers left unimpressed by Chelcee and Phoenix 'cheating' row

The Games viewers have been left distinctly unimpressed after contestants Chelcee Grimes and Phoenix Brown got into an argument. A couple of close-fought contests between the pair resulted in tensions boiling over.

In tonight’s episode (May 11) of the ITV show, Chelcee and Phoenix are seen getting into a bust-up over alleged cheating. Backstage footage shows Phoenix accusing Chelsea of not playing “fair” during the hurdles event.

Nonplussed viewers took to social media to express their disapproval of the row between the two competitors. “Chelcee, Phoenix… grow up. This isn't the school playground #TheGames,” @moore95_pamela remarked on Twitter.

READ MORE: ITV The Games viewers switch off after ‘boring’ opening night

Others questioned whether Phoenix had herself bent the rules. Becca Grice (@GriceSpice) asked: “Is no one going to mention that Pheonix did front crawl at the end... Not breaststroke?”. Meanwhile,@hollywillslove suggested Phoenix had slipped in an “illegal stroke or two at the finish” trying to beat Chelcee.

On Monday night’s opening show, Chelcee beat Phoenix narrowly in the 100m hurdles - and there were renewed tensions between the pair after a review of the 50m breaststroke ruled that Phoenix had beaten Chelcee to third place.

Initially, footage of the event had seemed to suggest that Chelcee had pipped Phoenix to third place, before an independent judge and technical review concluded otherwise. The decision sparked an argument between the pair, which was all caught on camera.

Following the breaststroke event, Phoenix remarks that Chelcee “pushed me yesterday”, referring to the 100m hurdles, and tells her “you didn’t play fair yesterday”. She added: “You gave me a shove.”

The Games is a revival of the Channel 4 reality sports game show, which ran on Channel 4 for four series from 2003 to 2006. Holly Willoughby and Freddie Flintoff are co-presenting, with Alex Scott and Chris Kamara serving as trackside reporters.

A total of 12 contestants are taking part in this year’s series. Competing alongside Phoenix Brown and Chelcee Grimes are Coronation Street stars Colson Smith and Ryan Thomas, Strictly Come Dancing’s Kevin Clifton and ITV newsreader Lucrezia Millarini.

Christine McGuiness, The Wanted’s Max George and Emmerdale’s Rebecca Sarker have also been participating, along with Love Islanders Olivia Attwood and Wes Nelson and Harry Potter actor Josh Herdman. The series ends with its final episode on Friday, May 13.

For more stories from where you live, visit InYourArea.

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