The gripping new Netflix documentary series The Deepest Dive brought the cast of Celebrity Gogglebox to tears.
Steve, a safety diving specialist and Alessia’s partner, was introduced to viewers in one episode.
The Blue Hole is one of the most deadly diving spots in the world, and the courageous diver went there.
‘If that’s not enough to tell you not to do it, I don’t know what is,’ said Denise Van Outen.
Alessia likewise followed Steve’s lead and descended.
‘Steve really went through each detail and everybody knew exactly what they were supposed to do,’ Alessia told cameras.
Alessia’s initial goal was to dive 52 metres while dragging herself up the rope, as stated in a voiceover.
After that, she’d go through “the arch” and swim horizontally for about 30 yards.
When she got to the other side, where Steve was waiting, she’d see a safety queue in the centre.
‘I don’t like the feeling of this at all,’ Clare Balding commented as the dive began.
The documentary series continued with video of the couple’s plunge, which, despite the couple’s careful preparations, ended in tragedy.
Steve caused a commotion when he said he needed “10 more seconds” before diving down after being told Alessia had entered the arch.
He was 20 seconds behind schedule as he began his descent.
On the other hand, Alessia finished the arch ten seconds early.
‘So, she went faster and he went slower, so now there’s 30 seconds difference between the pair of them,’ commented a panicked Rylan Clark.
‘That’s mad. That’s like an eternity for what they’re doing,’ added a stunned Sam Ryder.
Afterwards, the footage showed Alessia emerging from the arch; however, Steve was not there to greet her, so she swam in the opposite way before recognising she had exited the structure.
‘This is gonna end horribly wrong,’ predicted Duncan James.
Then Steve saw Alessia and swam furiously to get to her before he ran out of steam.
Things went downhill quickly.
After Steve seized both of Alessia’s hands, the two were able to swim to safety.
Alessia had passed out, and Steve was face down in the water when they came up for air.
‘He rescued me, but I couldn’t rescue him,’ a tearful Alessia recalled to cameras.
‘That’s just awful,’ broadcaster Clare said, becoming teary herself as the sofa critics realised what had happened. ‘He did save her.’
Even more horrifying, Steve sacrificed his life to rescue Alessia’s in the last photo the two of them ever had taken together.
‘That’s the last photo of them together… oh my God,’ said Greg James, as Gregg Wallace took his glasses off to wipe his eyes.
‘That is so powerful,’ said Scott Mills.
As the two of them spent a tender moment together, startled by what they had just seen, Clare’s wife Alice offered her a tissue.
Gogglebox airs Fridays at 9pm on Channel 4 and All4. The Deepest Dive is available to stream on Netflix.
